CAP 17 CAP 6 - Part 10 - Movepool Submissions

jas61292 · Oct 23, 2013

On to the last of our competitive stages: the complete movepool. In this thread, anyone who wants has the opportunity to try and create CAP6's movepool. However, there are limitations to what you can do; most of that information can be found on site. Furthermore, it should also be noted that there are lists of allowed and disallowed moves: attacking moves (vote) and non-attacking moves (vote). In addition to this, there are limits of 60 total moves and 30 "Very Good Moves" (again, defined in the movepool submission article), as per this discussion. Submitted movepools must follow these guidelines to have a chance to be slated. Good luck!

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CAP 6 so far:

Name: Cawmodore

Quanyails said:
Name: Show Me Your Moves!

General Description: A good user of moves with effects not frequently used in the OU metagame.

Justification: There are many moves in Pokémon with great effects, but they often end up unused. Moves such as Gravity, Snatch, and Safeguard have potential in OU, but they are neglected for several reasons: the moves are apparently overshadowed, have poor distribution, or are inefficient compared to another strategy. This CAP uses a combination of typing, ability, and stats to make these underused moves not only feasible, but also capable.

Questions To Be Answered:

What mechanics of Pokémon determine how viable moves are?--not only the Pokémon's typing, stats, and ability, but also its interaction with playstyles and momentum.

What new strategies might emerge by giving a new OU Pokémon underused moves?

What challenges do Pokémon that use lesser-used moves face compared to ones that use a more standard moveset?

If the Pokémon has options of staple OU moves (high-powered STABs, offensive stat-boosting moves, reliable recovery, Substitute), will those moves be useful to it, even if it's specialized toward a separate and distinct strategy?

Can underused moves increase other underused moves' viabilities?

Can one user of a strategy unrecognized in a metagame massively influence a pre-existing playstyle?

Typing: Steel / Flying
Abilities: Intimidate / Volt Absorb / ???
Stats: 50 HP / 92 Atk / 130 Def / 65 SpA / 75 SpD / 118 Spe

DarkSlay · Oct 23, 2013

For reference, here is the list of allowed/disallowed VGM’s as agreed upon in the prior threads:

Required

AM:
Aerial Ace
Return/Frustration
Hidden Power
Façade

NAM:

Belly Drum
Toxic
Substitute
Protect/Detect
Sleep Talk
Rest

Allowed

AM:
Drill Peck
Steel Wing
Iron Head
Bullet Punch
Quick Attack
Shadow Sneak
Heavy Slam
Ice Shard
Mach Punch
Hurricane
Flash Cannon
Normal coverage moves
Dark coverage moves
Ghost coverage moves
Poison coverage moves
Bug coverage moves
Grass coverage moves
Ice coverage moves
Rock coverage moves
Special Water coverage moves
Aqua Jet

Brick Break

Acrobatics

Drain Punch

NAM:

Gravity
Haze
Encore
Destiny Bond
Mean Look
Refresh
Weather-Inducing Moves
Knock-Off
Baton Pass

Roost

Disallowed

AM:
Fighting-based Coverage Moves Over 75 BP
Fire-based Coverage Moves (Skarmory, Jirachi)
Electric-based Coverage Moves (Skarmory)
ExtremeSpeed
Sucker Punch
U-Turn
Physical Water-based Coverage Moves (except Aqua Jet)
Ground-based Coverage Moves

NAM:
Attack-Boosting Moves (outside of Belly Drum)
Defense-Boosting Moves
Special Defense-Boosting Moves
Speed-Boosting Moves
Status Moves (outside of Toxic)
Recovery Moves (outside of Rest and Roost)
Trick/Switcheroo
Heal Bell
Memento/Healing Wish
Reflect/Light Screen
Stealth Rock
Spikes
Toxic Spikes
Rapid Spin
Whirlwind/Roar
Soak
Leech Seed
Mirror Coat/Counter
Taunt

In terms of what I’m looking for when making my slate, I am looking for a good balance between the competitive nature of the project and flavor moves. By this point in the process you know that Cawmodore is going to be primarily used as a Belly Drum user. This does not mean that Belly Drum must be its only set, but it does mean that Belly Drum should be its most effective set. This will heavily rely upon the movepool to make it possible, so keep that in mind when submitting.

I’m not really too strict on what I want to see move-wise. There’s a few obvious moves that fit competitively and flavor-wise, like Drill Peck and Steel Wing, that I’d obviously like to see on most movepools. However, that’s about it!

One final note: there was a bit of oversight in regards to a move, due to it technically being classed as a Non-VGM. That move is Tailwind. I’m not going to outright disallow it, since it’s not a VGM and it was not discussed as a VGM, but I will say EDIT: apparently this was too strongly worded, so let me try this again. I just want competitive reasoning for the inclusion of this move, as there was zero discussion of this during NAM discussion. That isn't too much to ask, and it's less aggressive as it was originally implied.

Thanks, and best of luck to submitters! You will have four days to submit your movepools due to X/Y time constraints, so while there’s no rush, be wary of your time.

Bull of Heaven · Oct 23, 2013

Final Submission

Each VGM is marked with an asterisk.

1 - Peck
1 - Leer
5 - Foresight
9 - Quick Attack*
13 - Metal Claw
19 - Bide
23 - Pluck
27 - Defog
33 - Steel Wing
37 - Drill Peck*
41 - Detect
47 - Belly Drum*
51 - Bullet Punch*
55 - Hurricane*

Nothing too exciting here I think, but there are a few notable competitive moves. Drill Peck is the alternative Flying STAB for those that don't want the drawback of Acrobatics, since Brave Bird would discourage the use of Belly Drum. Bullet Punch and Quick Attack provide priority, with Cawmodore getting STAB on Bullet Punch and being able to use it on faster threats that would knock it out after a Belly Drum. All of these moves have already been discussed at length, and none of them are particularly controversial, so I doubt I need to say anything more about them.

On to flavour. I think my level-up flavour might have gotten a little out of hand in my last movepool submission, so this time I tried to keep things fairly simple. The two main themes here are the use of Cawmodore's prominent beak (Peck, Pluck, Drill Peck) and the navigational skill that it would need to have as a sailor. Foresight suggest strong eyesight, Defog allows it to see more clearly and Detect refers to the eyesight again while allowing it to notice danger with enough time to evade it. A Cawmodore with Detect definitely won't be crashing into any icebergs. Metal Claw, Steel Wing and Bullet Punch provide the almost-obligatory Steel STAB. I had actually wanted Bullet Punch to be an egg move, but nothing in my desired groups could pass it on. Metal Claw might seem like a stretch to some, but those feathers on the ends of its wings definitely look to me like they could be used for clawing, and if Piplup can use Metal Claw, surely Cawmodore can. Bide suggests an ability to survive in, and even exploit, harsh environments. Just like Cawmodore can handle being battered by the elements, it can take a beating from opposing Pokemon and hit them back even harder. But that's just a vague start; a Cawmodore that manages to learn Hurricane has truly mastered its environment and is ready to unleash that power in battle, even if it is only backed by 65 base SpA.

If anyone's actually wondering about the level pattern, I originally copied it from Skarmory and then made some modifications. After its level 1 moves, Skarmory gets its next move at level 6 and then follows a 3-3-5 pattern in terms of the differences between levels that bring new moves. I didn't think that pattern quite suited this slightly short list, so I tried a few small adjustments to the numbers to see which variation I liked most. The result is a 4-4-6 pattern starting at level 5.

TM06 - Toxic*
TM07 - Hail
TM10 - Hidden Power*
TM11 - Sunny Day
TM15 - Hyper Beam
TM17 - Protect*
TM18 - Rain Dance*
TM20 - Safeguard
TM21 - Frustration*
TM27 - Return (functionally identical to Frustration)
TM31 - Brick Break*
TM32 - Double Team
TM40 - Aerial Ace*
TM42 - Facade*
TM44 - Rest*
TM45 - Attract
TM48 - Round
TM49 - Echoed Voice
TM60 - Quash
TM62 - Acrobatics*
TM66 - Payback*
TM67 - Retaliate
TM68 - Giga Impact
TM87 - Swagger
TM88 - Pluck (repeated from level-up)
TM90 - Substitute*
TM91 - Flash Cannon*
TM94 - Rock Smash
HM02 - Fly
HM04 - Strength

The two notable competitive moves here are Acrobatics and Brick Break. Acrobatics is the most Belly-Drum-friendly move available to Cawmodore, since it provides strong Flying STAB with no recoil and pairs well with either a Sitrus Berry for recovery or a Flying Gem for maximum power. The presence of Acrobatics and absence of Brave Bird also discourage the use of a Choice Band or Life Orb, two common items that don't pair well with Belly Drum. Most importantly, Acrobatics ensures that Cawmodore will be a genuine threat, capable of doing some damage before setting up and tearing through opponents after the setup. Both of these are important, as Cawmodore cannot afford to rely solely on such a risky move as Belly Drum, and the HP loss from Belly Drum combined with the absence of Drain Punch in this movepool mean that Cawmodore might only get one chance to boost and hit hard. While it does also have recovery in the form of Roost, that opens other vulnerabilities that will be discussed in the "tutor" section, and is not reliable enough by itself to compensate for Belly Drum. In short, I think that Acrobatics is necessary for the concept's success, especially without Drain Punch.

As for Brick Break, it provides some coverage on things that resist Acrobatics without being overpowered. Again, Cawmodore is a Pokemon that needs to be able to demolish many opponents quickly in order to be viable, and some sort of Fighting coverage is an important piece of that puzzle. Brick Break's relatively low base power ensures that Cawmodore's most important checks won't be among the aforementioned demolished opponents.

Flavour-wise, this list is largely filled with simple, required and self-explanatory moves. Cawmodore is a tough, straightforward physical battler, not something that uses flashy elemental attacks. As a sailor-like Pokemon, it finds value in being able to clear problematic weather (Sunny Day), but it can also learn how to unleash the power of the storms it's encountered (Rain Dance, Hail). Note that many Water-types learn Hail, and while Cawmodore isn't a Water-type, it's certainly familiar enough with aquatic environments. It's also a Pokemon that commands attention, allowing it to use Swagger and Echoed Voice effectively. Quash is normally given to authoritative-looking Pokemon, and Cawmodore definitely looks like it would be the captain of its ship. Flash Cannon is semi-obligatory Steel STAB, while Rock Smash and Strength demonstrate its physical power.

The two most notable flavour omissions are Sky Drop and Surf. Sky Drop actually has surprisingly narrow distribution. It's not a move that just any bird gets, and Cawmodore looks to me to be more interested in straightforward, direct attacks than in picking an opponent up and dropping it. As for Surf, I never even seriously considered it before I saw other people including it. Sure, it fits the sailor theme well, but frigate birds don't swim and Cawmodore doesn't look like an exception. It's very hard to imagine it carrying a trainer on water.

Ice Punch*
Icy Wind
Iron Head*
Recycle
Roost*
Sky Attack
Sleep Talk*
Snore
Uproar

The one notable competitive move that the tutor list brings to the table is Roost. Ice Punch is also a decent attack, and does a little extra damage to the likes of Dragonite, Gliscor and Landorus-T, but Acrobatics and Bullet Punch handle threats well enough that there isn't much value in giving a moveslot to Ice Punch. I included it mainly as a flavour move. Roost, on the other hand, is the only way for this version of Cawmodore to regain HP without relying on an item, and has a couple of drawbacks to keep it more balanced that Drain Punch. First, relying on Roost prevents Cawmodore from attacking and healing at the same time, meaning it can't negate the drawback of Belly Drum and exploit the benefit in the one turn. Second, I've tried to keep Cawmodore balanced by giving it a slight case of 4MSS, and if Roost is included in a set, it's very likely to come at the cost of either coverage or priority. Finally, Cawmodore's high Speed means that it's likely to use Roost before the opponent moves. While this does bring some obvious benefits, it also means that Cawmodore temporarily gains two very common weaknesses in Fighting and Ground, which limits the number of opportunities is will get for safe recovery. While I've seen it suggested that a Roost + three attacks set will overshadow Belly Drum if Roost is included, I doubt that this is the case. I've already mentioned why a fast Roost is a double-edged sword, and Cawmodore lacks the power to be a major threat in OU without some kind of boost. If it relies on an item for that Boost instead of Belly Drum, it still suffers because Acrobatics is no longer viable.

Drain Punch, as mentioned already, was left out because I think that allowing Cawmodore to put its +6 boost to use while simultaneously negating the drawback of Belly Drum is too much. I believe that if we don't want a boosted Cawmodore to break OU, we should force its trainer to make some reasonably tough decisions, and a move that does so much at once doesn't really fit with that principle. Belly Drum's drawback is what keeps the move balanced, and any options Cawmodore gets to negate it should come with significant drawbacks of their own. I've already demonstrated why Roost is such an option, and I don't believe that Drain Punch is as balanced as Roost.

Both the presence of Recycle and the absence of Endeavor reflect my weakness for odd, gimmicky moves that could have some use but aren't so likely to actually be good. Endeavor would be a great flavour move, but it exploits Belly Drum's drawback in a way with which I'm not comfortable. That's not to say that I think it would be broken, but I don't like the idea of Cawmodore doing a ton of damage to itself and then weakening its checks so easily with Endeavor. As for Recycle, it's probably not worth a moveslot, but with Belly Drum and Acrobatics encouraging the use of consumable items, it could conceivably be useful to grab a little extra recovery from a Sitrus Berry or use that Flying Gem a second time. The ability to get as much use as possible out of a single item seems to me to be something a resourceful sailor like Cawmodore would want to learn.

Icy Wind is yet another flavour move that refers to Cawmodore's native environment, plus it's something that a lot of birds get. The other flavour moves shouldn't need much explanation. Ice Punch gives Cawmodore Ice coverage, once again implicitly tying it to the Water type, and anyone that's seen the supporting art knows that Cawmodore has no trouble throwing a punch.

Baton Pass*
Endure
Focus Energy
Gust
Mega Punch
Mist
Water Gun
Water Sport

Choosing egg groups was easy. Flying is the most obvious one for a bird, and aquatic birds tend to be be in Water 1. Cawmodore shares this egg group pairing with Pelipper and Swanna. Illegal move combinations are a non-issue because the only viable move in this list is Baton Pass. Baton Pass provides a second interesting use for Belly Drum, and is another way that the move can potentially be made viable. Like Cawmodore's other interesting options, though, Baton Pass comes at the cost of a valuable moveslot, meaning that its inclusion will hurt Cawmodore's ability to either sweep by itself or heal itself. Baton Pass can be a difficult move to pull off if the opponent maintains offensive pressure, and does nothing to reduce the difficulty of setting up a Belly Drum. These factors keep the move balanced, but the ability to sometimes give a successful Baton Pass to a powerful physical sweeper might still be just what Cawmodore needs to properly influence the OU metagame.

The other moves add some extra flavour to the movepool. Endure represents Cawmodore's ability to survive a harsh environment. Focus Energy and Mega Punch represent its tough fighting spirit, and as mentioned in the "tutor" section, the supporting art makes it quite clear that Cawmodore can throw a good punch. The other four moves are additional references to Cawmodore's ocean habitat and implicit connections to the Water type. Gust made the list, or rather stayed on it as I was cutting moves to reach the limits, as a reference to Gustern, my favourite name for this Pokemon that didn't win. While Water Sport has no competitive value, it is another example of Cawmodore's resourcefulness in battle, as its inclusion means that some [Volt Absorb] Cawmodore have found a way to negate their only weakness.

VGMs: 23 + 1
Acrobatics
Aerial Ace
Baton Pass
Belly Drum
Brick Break
Bullet Punch
Drill Peck
Facade
Flash Cannon
Frustration + Return
Hidden Power
Hurricane
Ice Punch
Iron Head
Payback
Protect
Quick Attack
Rain Dance
Rest
Roost
Sleep Talk
Substitute
Toxic

Non-VGMs: 36
Attract
Bide
Defog
Detect
Double Team
Echoed Voice
Endure
Fly
Focus Energy
Foresight
Giga Impact
Gust
Hail
Hyper Beam
Icy Wind
Leer
Mega Punch
Metal Claw
Mist
Peck
Pluck (appears twice)
Quash
Recycle
Retaliate
Rock Smash
Round
Safeguard
Sky Attack
Snore
Steel Wing
Strength
Sunny Day
Swagger
Uproar
Water Gun
Water Sport

Total Moves: 60

Basically, the idea is to give Cawmodore a decent number of options while preventing it from doing everything in one set and forcing the player to make some choices. Most of the notable moves were included, but if I thought that a single move might do too much, I left it out. The most notable omission is Drain Punch, which means it takes two slots to get both coverage and recovery, and I also left out all priority moves except Bullet Punch and Quick Attack to separate coverage and priority. A Pokemon built around Belly Drum is difficult to balance, since the move tends to fail or succeed completely with no middle ground. My solution is a movepool that has all the tools Cawmodore needs to succeed, but also gives it some 4MSS.

srk1214: Thanks for making the spreadsheet. Those are always helpful.

Bughouse · Oct 23, 2013

Final Submission

1.Leer
1.Peck
1.Defog
1.Bullet Punch*
4.Peck (repeat ^)
8.Defog (repeat ^)
12.Bullet Punch (repeat ^)
15.Wing Attack
19.Steel Wing
24.FeatherDance
28.Air Slash*
33.Wide Guard
38.Drill Peck*
43.Rain Dance*
48.Belly Drum*
56.Metal Sound
61.Hurricane*

The level-up movepool provides a lot of reasonably standard Steel and Flying level-up moves, along with some flavor (Defog, Rain Dance, Hurricane). Wide Guard represents the massive wingspan of frigate birds! I envision Cawmodore probably being a late-evolving 2-stager, evolving at 48 and learning Belly Drum right then.

Toxic*
Hidden Power*
Hyper Beam
Protect*
Rain Dance (repeat from Level Up)
Frustration*
Return (repeat of Frustration, still counts as separate move)
Brick Break*
Double Team
Aerial Ace*
Torment
Facade*
Rest*
Attract
Thief
Round
Acrobatics*
Embargo
Retaliate
Giga Impact
Swagger
Pluck
Substitute*
Flash Cannon*
Rock Smash
Cut
Fly
Surf*
Strength

I don't think any of these should be overly confusing flavor-wise, but I wanted to play up especially the more privateer-y elements with Thief and Embargo. Pluck, while an obvious Flying move already, is great flavor too for the odd habit of frigate birds to steal food from prey in a rather gross manner. Though frigate birds actually can't swim, I felt including Surf was something Game Freak would absolutely do, since this is a sea captain, after all. Oh and Flash Cannon, while also a reasonably obvious Steel move, also provides that nice "cannon" word.

Iron Head*
Seed Bomb*
Icy Wind
Snore
Sky Attack
Tailwind
Sleep Talk*

Tutor moves provide additional good flavor here for our naval commander. Icy Wind and Tailwind just both feel right flavor-wise, just as Hurricane in the level-up did. Seed Bomb feels like decent flavor too, fitting in with the Flash Cannon.

Gust
Brine
Aqua Jet*
Air Cutter
Endure
Mist
Icy Wind (repeat from Tutor)
Tailwind (repeat from Tutor)

Since Icy Wind and Tailwind can be tutored too, I'm ignoring these for legalities.

Pelipper: Gust + Brine + Air Cutter + Mist + Endure
Alomomola: Brine + Aqua Jet + Endure + Mist
Masquerain: Gust + Aqua Jet

Illegal combo: Aqua Jet + Air Cutter

Here we add the final flavor aspects. Gust completes the list of wind-related moves Cawmodore has access to, while Mist and Brine drive home the seafaring nature of this CAP. Endure seems like a nice move too, to emphasize the hardiness of Cawmodore.

Acrobatics*
Aerial Ace*
Air Cutter
Air Slash*
Aqua Jet*
Attract
Belly Drum*
Brick Break*
Bullet Punch*
Cut
Defog
Double Team
Drill Peck*
Embargo
Endure
Façade*
FeatherDance
Flash Cannon*
Fly
Frustration*
Giga Impact
Gust
Hidden Power*
Hurricane*
Hyper Beam
Icy Wind
Iron Head*
Leer
Metal Sound
Mist
Peck
Pluck
Protect*
Rain Dance*
Rest*
Retaliate
Return
Rock Smash
Round
Seed Bomb*
Sky Attack
Sleep Talk*
Snore
Steel Wing
Strength
Substitute*
Surf*
Swagger
Tailwind
Thief
Torment
Toxic*
Water Pulse
Wide Guard
Wing Attack

Drill Peck AND Acrobatics - While I agree that Drill Peck is all that is necessary vs offensive teams and Acrobatics simply piles on defensive teams, I think this is necessary if we don't want Cawmodore to become exceedingly matchup dependent. Put simply, there are more chances to set up vs an offensive team. In general: a Draco Meteor has killed a teammate or after something locks itself in on a Choiced EQ are obvious chances. If you're using Intimidate, after something KOs with a +0 Outrage (maybe a ScarfChomp?), if you're using Volt Absorb, after anything uses a choiced Electric move not named Volt Switch.) Basically, there are in theory chances to set up against offensive teams. Against defensive teams Cawmodore doesn't have this luxury normally. Any bulky water will have a chance to either phaze it, Scald burn it, or be Quagsire. Skarmory and Hippowdon can phaze. Many things already hit hard enough, like a Heatran or a Rotom-W. Many things can paralyze you, such as Ferrothorn, Jirachi, Blissey, or Chansey. And while, yes, these threats can partly be worked around with specialized sets like RestoChesto or Substitute, these render Cawmodore very matchup reliant in the other direction, where they will be significantly worse against offensive teams. The only way to make Cawmodore generally threatening to both offense and defense is Acrobatics.

Brick Break NOT Drain Punch - The Fighting coverage of Brick Break is necessary, in my opinion, for Cawmodore to successfully sweep. While I understand a +6 Acrobatics will already be demolishing most things, this is necessary to beat Magnezone, which we deliberately outsped so that it wouldn't trap and kill us. It doesn't make sense to go back on that promise to me. However, I don't believe that Cawmodore should get the immense benefits of Drain Punch, for example the capacity to not only kill Ferrothorn, but heal off of it too. This "kill while healing" capability is just generally too good against the majority of OU, and makes Cawmodore far less susceptible to the future priority revenger the opponent was relying on (CB Scizor) to finish the job. This basically forces opponents to rely strictly on Scarfers, and I think that's a bad influence on the metagame. Most things can be revenged by either priority or Scarfers. Finally, it's easy to point to Skarmory alone as a reason to not allow Drain Punch. Cawmodore will heal a large amount of HP back from Skarmory, making Whirlwind not a sure victory for the Skarmory user, since Cawmodore may have a chance to set up again later, or at worst, the user can continue to use Cawmodore's Intimidate to support his or her team.

Priority moves - I don't think I really need to justify Bullet Punch, since basically everyone has put it in their movepool. I think we all get why this is necessary. As for Quick Attack/Aqua Jet, it's just a matter of what they theoretically cover, and to consider that it'd likely be replacing Bullet Punch on a set, since Flying and Fighting coverage together is by far the ideal option. Aqua Jet basically only takes out Scarf Heatran and hits Scizor a bit harder, while it now hits the following weaker than Bullet Punch would: Scarf Lati@s, Starmie, Keldeo, Kyurem-B, Garchomp, Salamence, as well as making us more revengeable by Breloom's Mach Punch. Quick Attack on the other hand can be usable to hit more things that Bullet Punch was not very good against than Aqua Jet could: Scarf Starmie, Keldeo, Politoed, Rotom-W. Nor does using Quick Attack make us overly weak to things that resist Quick Attack, with the exception of Scarf Gengar and a little weaker to Scizor. In short, Quick Attack is the better secondary priority option for Cawmodore than Aqua Jet. I'm actually offering the less powerful one in this case.

NO Baton Pass - I really don't think a bulky and fast Belly Drum/Substitute/Baton Pass/attack set is something we should be encouraging. This will inevitably be passed to something like a Dragonite and I don't think we will learn anything from boosted Dragonite sweeping. We already know it can do that.

NO Roost - Along with the idea of Drain Punch, this gives Cawmodore a reset button that I don't think it deserves. While I do think it is an inferior move to Drain Punch for Cawmodore in all things related to sweeping, it in theory could support a bulky set. While I did disallow other moves that might fit on that set (Knock Off), I still think a Sub/Roost/Toxic set is theoretically viable, though certainly not great. This is a set I'd rather not allow.

Tailwind - The truly dangerous concern with Agility/Autotomize was the capacity to turn Cawmodore into a specialized Baton Passer; the worry of Belly Drum + Speed booster on the same sweeper set is really minimal, as Cawmodore already has priority and 2-move coverage is quite limited. Since I left out Baton Pass, I saw no reason to fear Tailwind. Moreover, even if Baton Pass were included in my movepool, Tailwind is still not a concern. The permanent speed-boosting nature of Agility doesn't exist in Tailwind, which will peter out shortly after the pass. Truly, this move is of no concern.

jas61292 · Oct 24, 2013

Final Submission

One thing you will notice with my competitive movepool overall is a sense of conservativism. While I will save the specifics for the competitive section down below, the overarching reasoning behind every inclusion and exclusion is the fact that I believe that what we have already is incredibly powerful with Belly Drum, and simply trying to make it better and better at the expense of the counters we have decided on is not a good way to go about things. Yes, Belly Drum is a risky strategy, but we have taken many steps so far to counteract this risk, and I truly believe that CAP6 can be incredibly successful with a minimalistic movepool, so that is what I am providing here.

Bold = VGM
* = Equivalent to another VGM
~ = Repeated move

00 Growl
00 Peck
06 Sand-Attack
10 Gust
14 Mist
19 Wing Attack
23 Detect
27 Swagger
32 Steel Wing
38 Defog
42 Tailwind
47 Bullet Punch
51 Belly Drum
55 Air Slash
60 Embargo
66 Flash Cannon
72 Hurricane

17 Moves, 6 VGMs

For my level up movepool I wanted Cawmodore to have fairly basic bird based movepool, but with a few additions inspired by his nautical commander theme. However, despite having the base of a simple bird, I imagined Cawmodore being more of a lategame Pokemon like Braviary, and thus it is off of Braviary that I based the basic structure of the level up learnset.

To start off, it gets Growl and Peck from the beginning. They are staple bird moves, so there is no better way to get things going. Next comes Sand-Attack and Gust, which, again, are just moves that you would expect on just about any given bird. Level 14 is where things start to get a bit interesting. I wanted a move that would not be that strong, but give more of that sea bird feel. I think Mist does this very well, as it represents the spray off the ocean, specifically off of boats. Level 19 brings Wing Attack, which, while not that exciting, is another bird staple that is necessary to have before it gets too late if the Pokemon is to be useful in game. The next couple of moves represent the kind of qualities a good captain (or commodore) should have: some basic foresight into the dangers of his surroundings (Detect), and some bravado (Swagger). These are followed by another "obvious" move in Steel Wing, which is not all that special, but, for a Steel type bird is practically a necessity.

Moving onto the higher levels, we get a lot more into the sea captain theme. The next two moves, Defog and Tailwind, are incredibly useful tools for sea travel. I mean, what captain would not absolutely love the ability to eliminate bothersome fog or get a favorable wind at will. After those, we go back to more standard Pokemon flavor for a bit with important STAB options in Bullet Punch and Air Slash, with the concept defining Belly Drum in between. While not necessarily related to the rest of the flavor theme, I wanted Belly Drum in the level up movepool because Cawmodore's design just gives it such a perfect belly to drum on. Following that we have my absolute favorite flavor move of all: Embargo. While an embargo should not be confused with a blockade, ships could still be used to enforce an embargo, and I love imagery this move brings.

Finally, the last two moves it learns are a pair of powerful STAB options, but each also has its own additional flavor benefits. The classic power weapon of a sea vessel is the cannon, so having Flash Cannon as its final steel move is quite fitting. Hurricane, on the other hand, is not specifically ship related, but certainly has sea ties in its own right, as hurricanes always form out over the ocean. In addition, Hurricane is a common capstone moves for the Flying types that learn it, and especially ones with ties to water.

TM06 Toxic
TM10 Hidden Power
TM11 Sunny Day
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect*
TM18 Rain Dance
TM21 Frustration
TM27 Return*
TM32 Double Team
TM39 Rock Tomb
TM40 Aerial Ace
TM42 Facade
TM44 Rest
TM45 Attract
TM48 Round
TM58 Sky Drop
TM63 Embargo~
TM68 Giga Impact
TM80 Rock Slide
TM84 Poison Jab
TM87 Swagger~
TM88 Pluck
TM90 Substitute
TM91 Flash Cannon~
HM02 Fly
HM03 Surf
HM04 Strength

24 Unique Moves, 11 VGMs

For TM flavor, most of the non-competitive stuff here is pretty basic and obvious. Toxic, Hidden Power, Return and the like are all standard on all Pokemon. Aerial Ace is on all flying types. Sky Drop, Pluck and Fly are fairly standard for birds, and Embargo, Swagger and Flash Cannon are all repeated from level up. Rain Dance and Sunny Day are moves seen on a ton of different Pokemon, with little connection between them all. Since I already had some weather related reasoning in the level up pool with Hurricane, Defog, Tailwind and the like, I though these moves would fit in here. Surf was also included as I felt it was something a sailor bird would have.

The few potentially competitive coverage moves here are Rock Slide and Poison Jab. Poison Jab is something a lot of random Pokemon get, with the only basic requirement seeming to be having some appendage to jab with. Rock Slide (and Rock Tomb as well), unlike there stronger counterpart Stone Edge (which I did not include) are moves seen on all sorts of Pokemon, from Granbull to Munna. There was little reason I could see that Cawmodore would not be able to get these moves, and since I am not giving a lot of other options for competitive reasons, I wanted to give it the few I could that made sense.

Helping Hand
Icy Wind
Iron Head
Knock Off
Last Resort
Seed Bomb
Signal Beam
Sky Attack
Sleep Talk
Snore
Tailwind~

10 unique moves, 5 VGMs

Tutor moves are often where some more obscure options can come in, but in this case I tried to keep things fairly simply. Icy Wind and Sky Attack are standard for Flying types, while Iron Head is standard for steels, and Sleep Talk and Snore are standard for everything. Last Resort is a more unique flavor move, but I feel it show the kind of determination a Pokemon like Cawmodore would have. Helping Hand also works as, a captain is not alone on his ship. He has to work with and help out his crew. Finally, Signal Beam is a fun and symbolic move as the ability to send out signals is highly important to a commodore in change of multiple vessels.

Seed Bomb is very similar to Poison Jab back in TMs in that it is an interesting coverage move that a ton of random Pokemon get. While not necessarily huge on the flavor, it made the cut as one of the best coverage options I am giving Cawmodore in my movepool.

Brine
Drill Peck
FeatherDance
Mirror Move
Ominous Wind
Splash

6 unique moves, 1 VGM

Legal Combos

Brine + Drill Peck + Featherdance from Empoleon
Brine + FeatherDance + Mirror Move from Swanna
Brine + Ominous Wind from Pelipper
Brine + Splash from Kingdra
Drill Peck + FeatherDance + Mirror Move + Ominous Wind from Fearow and others

Illegal Combos

Brine + Drill Peck + Mirror Move
Brine + Drill Peck + Ominous Wind
Brine + FeatherDance + Ominous Wind
Brine + Mirror Move + Ominous Wind
Drill Peck + Splash
FeatherDance + Splash
Mirror Move + Splash
Ominous Wind + Splash

Egg moves are always my favorite, as they simultaneously contain pure flavor and any extra competitive moves that don't fit elsewhere. Fortunately, there were no real competitive moves I wanted that wouldn't fit elsewhere, so I got to stick to pure flavor here. The egg groups themselves were chosen because they were the same groups that Pelipper and Swanna were in. While it may be Steel and not Water, Cawmodore has much more in common with these water birds than any other flying types.

Like many before it, Brine is another sea inspired move. In fact, when it comes to moves that represent the ocean at its best, nothing comes close to Brine. FeatherDance and Mirror Move are some fun bird exclusive moves, and I think they make Cawmodore feel more realistic. Ominous Wind is in for similar reasons, as, like Icy Wind in the tutor pool, a lot of Birds have access to this move. But when it comes to fun moves, Splash definitely takes the cake. I got the idea for this one when DougJustDoug made an offhand comment on IRC about how a Cawmodore prevo should have splash, and, while I don't have any control over if we have a prevo or not, the idea of Cawmodore splashing around in the water is just too good to pass up.

Drill Peck is the lone competitive move in the egg movepool. Not much to say on this one. Its a fairly standard STAB move, and has precedence as being an egg move in Pokemon like Skarmory and Murkrow.

Physical Attacking VGMs:

Aerial Ace
Bullet Punch
Drill Peck
Facade
Frustration
Iron Head
Poison Jab
Return
Rock Slide
Seed Bomb

10 Moves (1 set of equivalents)

Non-Attacking VGMs:

Belly Drum
Detect
Knock Off
Protect
Rain Dance
Rest
Sleep Talk
Substitute
Toxic

9 Moves

Total:

57 Moves, 24 VGMs

Drill Peck: The most important of all the moves on Cawmodore, Drill Peck is where the bulk of its damage output will come from. It is tied with Iron Head for the strongest STAB move it has, and is by far of the better offensive typing. Once it is set up, the power provided by Drill Peck should be enough to finish off mildly weakened teams without providing so much power that it becomes unstoppable whenever it sets up regardless of the situation.

Bullet Punch: The other key offensive move in Cawmodore's repertoire, Bullet Punch makes sure it is not stopped by every revenge killing scarfer and priority user in the game. After a Belly Drum, frail offensive Pokemon such as Breloom are cleanly OHKOd, along with Pokemon weak to steel like Terrakion. It also allows it to pick of other fast Pokemon who are weakened, and gives a bit of utility to it even before Belly Drum is used.

Seed Bomb: Probably the most useful coverage option Cawmodore has. Seed Bomb is not exactly a wondrous coverage move, as most things weak to it are already destroyed by Drill Peck or Bullet Punch. However, it does have a few very notable advantages. At +6, Seed Bomb will always OHKO 252/0 Tyranitar (who can sometimes survive a Bullet Punch), easily OHKO any Rotom-W, and your best option against Unaware Quagsire and Hippowdon.

Tailwind: While not actually a VGM, our Movepool Leader DarkSlay asked for comment on this move if we were going to include it. Personally, I included it because I think it is good flavor, and it simply lacks any competitive advantage. Cawmodore lacks the support movepool to run a team supporter set, doesn't have the power to take advantage of it without Belly Drum, and lacks the time to use it in tandem with BD. Besides, Tailwind is an underused move, so if by some miracle it does become common, at worst it would cause us to pull a Voodoom and succeed in an unintended way. But I highly doubt that would happen. Its just not good enough.

Notable Exclusions

Acrobatics: If there is one word to describe why I chose not to include Acrobatics, it would be "power." We chose a set list of checks and counters early on in the project, and these checks and counters are really important. When we ignore them, we are likely to run into major problems. So, to put it bluntly, Acrobatics allows us to power through each and every one of these counters, which is a recipe for failure. Not a single Pokemon in the game can switch in safely on it, making battles way too team reliant. Either you have a revenge killer for it, or you lose, because checking it defensively is simply impossible. To make things worse, it essentially frees up a moveslot as it eliminates the need to ever run a coverage move. You certainly could, but you could also run substitute or something just as easily. Either one of these things that Acrobatics does alone would be dangerous to allow, but together they are far too much.

Drain Punch/Brick Break: Like Acrobatics, the main reason for disallowing these moves here is that they allow Cawmodore to simply power through any counters. Sure, there are a few pokemon that could still survive a hit with these, but the best they can do in return is phaze out. Drain Punch makes this even worse as before phazing can be done, Cawmodore would have healed itself up so much that it can't have been considered countered at all. While these moves may not have the moveslot freeing effect of Acrobatics, the fact that they eliminate counters without hitting much else besides these counters is more than enough reason to keep them out.

Non-STAB Priority moves: Once again, the reasoning for not including these moves has to do with or checks and counters list, though this time, rather than focusing on the defensive switch ins, these moves remove too many of the offensive revenge killers. Things like Keldeo and Jolteon should be able to revenge kill us fairly easily. Yeah, that is unfortunate as a player, but it is the players responsibility to clear out such Pokemon before they attempt the game ending sweep, not our responsibility to make sure Pokemon like that don't exist. Now, I don't think every single one of these moves removes all of our offensive checks. However, I believe we have a good list right now and have absolutely no reason to remove any of them.

Roost: Honestly, I'm shocked this move was even allowed. It does absolutely nothing to help facilitate Delly Drum sweeping, and with our physical bulk and abilities, puts us dangerously close to being able to just be a wall or pivot without running Belly Drum at all. We might not have incredible power, but we have higher offensive stats than guys like Skarmory and Jellicent, while having awesome abilities and fantastic speed. Maybe it might make Belly Drumming easier (though I doubt it), but with Roost, there would be absolutely no incentive to even try an use Belly Drum at all. Like, I'd try and justify this further, but I can't even understand why we are even considering this move to begin with. When it comes to allowed moves that do nothing to help the concept at all, Roost is the king.

nyttyn · Oct 24, 2013

Final Submission

For my submission, insofar as competiveness goes, I went for three of the controversial moves - Acrobatics, Brick Break, and Roost, making my movepool, in many aspects, quite liberal. However, at the same I also gave Cawmodore incredibly poor coverage options, with Encore perhaps being the best option it has outside of the core five moves of Acrobatics, Belly Drum, Brick Break, Bullet Punch, and Roost. The intent is to make Cawmodore, while very powerful, one-dimensional - it pays for its power with the cost of being about as subtle as a M1 Abrams. Though, with Flying/Steel/Fighting coverage, access to both reliable and semi-unreliable healing, and priority, I forsee Cawmodore doing very well for itself - assuming you get it into a position to set up in the first place.

Attacking
Aerial Ace
Acrobatics
Return
Frustration
Hidden Power
Facade
Drill Peck
Iron Head
Bullet Punch
Brick Break
Surf
Flash Cannon
Payback
Air Slash
Night Slash
Pursuit
Fake Out

Supportive
Belly Drum
Toxic
Substitute
Protect
Sleep Talk
Rest
Roost
Encore
Rain Dance
Knock Off

Attacking
Sky Drop
Sky Attack
Swift
Rock Smash
Slash
Steel Wing
Final Gambit
Hyper Beam
Giga Impact
Fly
Metal Claw
Retaliate
SonicBoom
Peck

Supportive
Attract
Round
Swagger
Endure
Double Team
Defog
Flash
Follow Me
Helping Hand
Horn Drill
Leer
Lock-On

-- Peck
-- Leer
6 - Roost
9 - SonicBoom
12 - Lock On
17 - Swift
20 - Air Cutter
23 - Steel Wing
28 - Acrobatics
31 - Bullet Punch
34 - Pursuit
39 - Slash
42 - Night Slash
45 - Horn Drill
50 - Belly Drum

TM10 Hidden Power
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect
TM18 Rain Dance
TM21 Frustration
TM31 Brick Break
TM32 Double Team
TM27 Return
TM40 Aerial Ace
TM42 Facade
TM44 Rest
TM45 Attract
TM48 Round
TM58 Sky Drop
TM62 Acrobatics
TM66 Payback
TM67 Retaliate
TM87 Swagger
TM91 Flash Cannon
TM94 Rock Smash
HM03 Surf

Helping Hand
Sleep Talk
Knock Off
Sky Attack
Iron Head
Snore

Encore
Defog
Follow Me
Payback
Metal Claw
Endure
Fake Out

Level-Up

Based it off of Skarmory. I also attempted to make a level-up pool that would work well and make sense ingame, providing it with the amazing SonicBoom at level 9 to make it useful early on, Steel Wing at 23, a time where SonicBoom won't really cut it anymore, Acrobatics at 28 to give it very powerful ingame STAB, Bullet Punch at 31 for priority utility (around this level, that starts becoming a real concern), and finally Belly Drum at 50, around the time the player faces the final gym and gets ready for the E4, providing Cawmadore with a useful niche for endgame.

Egg Groups

Flying is pretty obvious - it's a bird. Field is for two reasons - one, many Flying types find themselves in the field group, with Cawmadore's attractiveness and charisma finding it capable of mating with a lot of pokemon, and two, it prevents Cawmadore from having egg move illegalities, which are unnecessary.

Moves

Attacking

Aerial Ace

Nearly universal among anything that can perform some sort of cut or slash.

Acrobatics

Competitive: At the level of power we're talking for BD sweeps, Acrobatics is coverage, able to break through everything sans Cawmadore's staunchest checks, like Heatran. Which is extremely helpful, because otherwise Hippowdon, Rotom-W, and Landorus-T can stop it a bit easier, something Cawmadore would really NOT like to be the case given that it's so hard to get a sweep off with it.

Return

Universal TM

Frustration

Universal TM

Hidden Power

Universal TM

Facade

Universal TM

Drill Peck

Well, yeah, bird, beak, self-explanatory.

Iron Head

Cawmodore are known for being quite hard-headed, both in an argument, and in a fight, possessing a fierce headbutt that can leave quite the bruise.

Bullet Punch

Competitive: Cawmodore would really like some priority to handle scarfers if need be as well as provide a secondary role outside of belly drumming (poor man's revenge killer). The downside if, of course, Steel is awful at coverage, and you don't gain access to recovery.

Brick Break

Competitive: Brick Break was added due to Fighting coverage being necessary if we wish to avoid being completely walled by Steel and Electric types, while chosen over Drain Punch because Drain Punch's healing is...well, quite frankly, too good on Cawmodore.

Surf

Pirate captain bird should know how to navigate the seven seas! It only makes sense!

Flash Cannon

Cawmodore is very shiny, and capable of using that shininess as a weapon.

Payback

Anyone who dares harm Cawmodore or his crew will find that it is capable of harboring quite a grudge, and will seek payback tenfold for every feather harmed.

Air Slash

Wings. Duh.

Night Slash

Bird can slash with wings. Mostly because Skarmory also learns it.

Pursuit

Trying to escape from a pirate captain bird? Good luck with that. Cawmodore will pursuit you to the very depths of Davy Jones Locker if it must.

Fake Out

Cawmodore possesses such an intimidating presence that it is even capable of faking out its foes, causing them to stagger in confusion.

Sky Drop

Cawmodore possesses intense strength, and is capable of hefting a foe up into the air, slamming it back down to the ground for massive damage.

Sky Attack

If two blows won't do the trick, Cawmodore is capable of charging up for a massive attack that can leave even the mightiest of foes staggered.

Swift

Both steel types and flying types tend to learn Swift, it only makes sense to give it to Cawmodore.

Rock Smash

Skarmory can break rocks, why can't Cawmodore? Big meaty bird fists smash puny stones!

Slash

See: Night Slash
Steel Wing

Cawmodore has pretty sharp, powerful wings, capable of smashing foes down left and right. Kind of a gimmie.

Final Gambit

If the fight is looking against against it, Cawmodore will slam into the opponent in a last ditch Final Gambit to attempt to take them down.

Hyper Beam

Almost every final evo stage learns this, and de facto, Cawmodore is the final evo, regardless of how many stages it might have.

Giga Impact

See above.

Fly

Duh.

Metal Claw

Sharp claws on the end of its wings? Yeah.

Retaliate

Again - harm a single feather on the head of Cawmodore's crew, and it will return with furious vengeance tenfold! Or in this case, twofold.

SonicBoom

It isn't quite fast enough for ExtremeSpeed, but Cawmodore can still go fast enough to create a pretty solid SonicBoom. See: Floatzel.

Peck

Bird, beak, peck peck peck.

Horn Drill

With a horn that sharp, it's no surprise Cawmodore is capable of knocking out its opponent with a single, well placed attack - though, due to the precision required, it is a risky gambit, as a miss will leave Cawmodore open to counter-attack without fear of harm.

Supportive

Belly Drum

yes.

Toxic

Universal TM (That really doesn't make a whole lot of sense...)
Substitute

Universal TM

Protect

Universal TM
Sleep Talk

Goes with Rest, Universal TM

Rest

Universal TM

Roost

Competitive: Roost is a reliable option for recovery that enables Cawmodore to stay healthy throughout the match, and gives it a second shot at a Belly Drum, as it were. 4MSS, of course, but on the right team Roost can be very handy.

Encore

Competitive: Encore's a pretty cool, if somewhat niche option to help Cawmodore set up.

Rain Dance

Sailor bird, yeah? Seems like it'd be able to do a rain dance pretty well.

Knock Off

Competitive: Gimmick move, mostly. Still, it might give Cawmodore some use outside of Drumming, like how Bullet Punch can let it revenge.

Attract

Cawmodore is VERY attractive. It's a captain pirate bird, of course it'd know how to make the ladies/guys swoon!

Round

Universal TM

Swagger

Universal TM

Endure

It doesn't matter how heavy the burden is, or how much hurt gets thrown Cawmodore's way. If it needs to hold out for just one more turn, the iron will of the captain will pull through, Cawmodore refusing to faint no matter what, just to hold out.

Defog

Captain bird, yeah? If there's ever troublesome fog upon the seas, with a mighty gust of its wings, Cawmodore can clear the fog away.

Flash

That shiny metal capable of pulling off Flash Cannon could very easily perform Flash.

Follow Me

Distracting its opponents with a shiny gleam of its coat and a few choice, taunting words, Cawmodore can force them to attack it instead, shielding its crew from blows. After-all, what noble captain is not willing to put their very HP on the line for their crew?

Helping Hand

Like any good captain, Cawmodore knows how to rally its crew, giving them a Helping Hand to boost their attacks to new heights of power.

Leer

Cawmodore has such an intimidating presence that it is no surprise that a Leer from it would make even the staunchest of foes shake in their boots.

Lock-On

Cawmodore lets no foe escape, no matter what. Once it has Locked-On to its opponent, not even escaping to the mists of the sea will aid them, for Cawmodore will not let them avoid it.

Double Team

Universal TM

Snore

Nearly-universal tutor

Notable Exclusions

Sand Attack

While almost every bird gets it, Cawmodore is above such petty tactics. It will fight its opponent honorably, without resorting to such cheap tricks.

Brine

I don't really see how Cawmodore would perform this. Precisely five non-water types learn Brine - of them, one is a ice bear, one is Mew who learns every TM (it was a TM in gen 4), one of them is Lugia, a pokemon with very heavy ties to the sea and a legendary, one of them is a sweaty, salty wrestler with so much salt it even has a move named SmellingSalt, and the last one is god.

Beat Up

Yeah, this one seems obvious with my flavor. "Cawmodore has a crew, why not attack with it?" Despite that, though, Cawmodore is honorable. It fights its opponents one on one, like any proper captain with honor would - for only cowards and honor-less wretches gang up on an opponent that deserves an honorable duel.

Total Moves: 56

Pata Hikari · Oct 24, 2013

Final Submission

1: Peck
1: Leer
5: Water Gun
9: Thief
12: Screech
14: Comet Punch
16: Wing Attack
18: Water Pulse
22: Steel Wing
26: Dizzy Punch
29: Bullet Punch
30: Belly Drum
41: Mega Punch
46: Heavy Slam
55: Hydro Pump
61: Sky Attack

OK so the level up movepool, obviously the place where the absolute core of a Pokemon is made. Of the various ways that Pokemon learn moves, level ups is obviously the most important for flavor. So let’s look at Cawmodore, it’s a Steel/Flying type and the movepool that implies. But it’s also a frigatebird, a seabird, this combines to the buff sailor look to make me think that this Pokemon needs three types of moves in it’s level up pool. STAB moves, Water moves, and Punching moves. Look at him, there’s no way Cawmodore doesn't punch things.

It should be noted that I designed this movepool under the assumption that Cawmodore is a single stage Pokemon, so it lacks any “Level 1” moves of importance.

The first few moves are standard low level moves. Thief and Screech are based off frigatebird behavior, Thief because they’re known to steal food from other birds, and Screech for how young frigatebirds attract their parents attention for food. Comet Punch obviously as a beginning punching move, flailing wildly with its fists Once it hits the teens to mid twenties it gets improved versions of it’s starting moves. This gradual upgrading continues up to level 29 and 30. I deliberately placed Bullet Punch and Belly Drum right next to each other. A STAB priority move followed by such a powerful boosting move emphasizes the powerful combo Cawdomore is supposed to possess, and of course there’s a large gap between any further level up moves on purpose as well, emphasizing the Belly Drum/Bullet Punch combo. The final four moves are capstone moves for the Pokemon.

One point about the punching moves it learns is that Cawmodore is meant to be a self-taught, rough and tumble brawler, thus the complete lack of any Fighting type moves, which shows the lack of any Martial Arts discipline

Competitively the level up movepool exists to make sure that Cawdomore will always have Bullet Punch and Belly Drum. All of the other moves are flavor, even the water moves primarily exist for that, as even a Hydro Pump won’t do much off this guy’s low Special Attack.

TM06: Toxic
TM10: Hidden Power
TM15: Hyper Beam
TM17: Protect
TM18: Rain Dance
TM21: Frustration
TM23: Smack Down
TM27: Return
TM32: Double Team
TM39: Rock Tomb
TM40: Aerial Ace
TM42: Facade
TM44: Rest
TM45: Attract
TM46: Thief*
TM48: Round
TM62: Acrobatics
TM68: Giga Impact
TM80: Rock Slide
TM88: Pluck
TM90: Substitute
TM94: Rock Smash
HM02: Fly
HM03: Surf
HM04: Strength

Cawmodore doesn’t actually benefit much from TMs and HMs, a large amount of the stuff is just required. Thief is redundant, of course. However, you’ll notice that I gave Cawmodore rock type coverage, yet I didn’t give him Stone Edge. This is competitively because the only high BP reliable move I think Cawmodore should have is an itemless Acrobatics, so no Stone Edge. Flavor wise, however, my justification is that Cawmodore isn’t really one for hitting you with sharp things (Aerial Ace is the only “cutting” move he uses, and that’s more due to being a Flying type), and more likely to just bludgeon you to death. So throwing rocks, OK, stabbing with them, not OK. Pluck is another interpretation of frigatebirds stealing food, and Rock Smash and Strength are to demonstrate his muscles.

Ice Punch
Iron Head
Drain Punch
Sleep Talk
Knock Off
Bounce
Uproar
Helping Hand
Sky Attack*
Snatch
Snore

Competitive wise, a lot of useful utility moves are put with the move tutors. The ever important Drain Punch exists here, as well as Ice Punch for Ice coverage if you want that. Bounce I think can actually work as an alternative STAB, being decent powered and having a high paralysis chance. Hey, if Gyarados can make it work… Knock Off is a gimmick, but hey, something this tanky can help out a bit with disabling item reliant Pokemon. Iron Head provides it with a strong Steel STAB, though I think mostly Bullet Punch will be used.

Tutor moves show what Cawmodore can do if he gets a bit of training under his belt. Ice Punch and Drain Punch is when somebody teaches him how to do something with those fists beyond flail wildly. Uproar and Snatch are both flavor based, another adaptation of young frigatebirds screaming and the species food stealing. Sky Attack is, of course, a redundant level up move.

Drill Peck (Fearow, Dodrio, Xat*u, Honchkrow, Skarmory)
Metal Sound (Skarmory, Kabutops)
Aqua Jet (Golduck, Dewgong, Kabutops, Floatzel, Carracosta, Dragonite, Feraligatr, Azumarill Masquerain)
Hurricane (Pidgeot, Dragonite, Pelipper, Swanna)
Encore (Dewgong, Walrein, Golduck, Poliwrath, Politoed, Quagsire, Azumarill, Togekiss)
Baton Pass (Togekiss, Masquerain, Huntail, Gorebyss, Buizel, Xatu*)
Headbutt (Dewgong, way too many more to list due to HGSS’s move tutor)
Brine (Dewgong, Lapras, Omastar, Pelipper, Huntail, Carracosta, Swanna, Kabutops)
Follow Me (Togekiss)

Egg Move Illegalities

Drill Peck + Aqua Jet
Drill Peck + Baton Pass
Brine + Encore
Follow Me + Drill Peck
Follow Me + Brine
Metal Sound + Hurricane
Metal Sound + Encore
Metal Sound + Baton Pass
Metal Sound + Follow Me

Egg Moves are interesting, flavor wise. A bit more of the water theme comes through, with Aqua Jet, Hurricane, and Brine. The main competitive choice is with Drill Peck, if you want to use Drill Peck, you can’t use Aqua Jet or Baton Pass (Even though Xatu can technically learn Baton Pass and Drill Peck, Drill Peck is an Egg Move for Xatu, while Baton Pass can only be gotten from Purifying one in XD, so the moves are exclusive). Encore, of course, is helpful for letting Cawdomore set up and discourage other people from setting up on it. Follow Me is because, well, you try ignoring a buff sailor jumping in front of you. Headbutt is mostly there for a flavor tie in to Iron Head.

Attacking Moves

Aerial Ace
Return/Frustration
Hidden Power
Façade
Iron Head
Acrobatics
Drill Peck
Bullet Punch
Drain Punch
Surf
Hydro Pump
Hurricane
Aqua Jet
Heavy Slam
Rock Slide
Bounce
Ice Punch

A running theme for Cawmodore is that its moves are quite low powered. This is, of course, deliberate. To keep it from becoming a generic bulky attacker/Choice Band user. The special moves it has are primarily flavor, since their high base power is more then offset by the Pokemon's low Special Attack and no way to boost it. Though I guess if you really have trouble with something water weak a Hydro Pump can help

Non Attacking Moves

Belly Drum
Toxic
Substitute
Protect
Sleep Talk
Rest
Rain Dance
Encore
Baton Pass
Knock Off

Mostly required moves, in all honesty. Encore is one I really like though, as it provides an interesting way to help Cawmodore set up.

Total Moves: 59

Total Very Good Moves: 29

So overall I’d say the main point with Cawmodore is it’s relatively low power moves are made up for by Belly Drum and its high defenses. It’s strongest moves all have downsides. Acrobatics, of course, requires you to run no item/lose it. Drill Peck is the most balanced STAB move, but you make sacrifices in versatility, and Iron Head is Steel, which isn't the best attacking type at all.

You’ll notice one major move is missing, Roost. Why didn’t I include it? Well, primarily because Drain Punch is a far better move for recovery fitting with the concept. With Drain Punch you’re still on the offensive, and since you need Belly Drum to do anything important, having one moveslot pull “double duty” so to speak is good. Even a Baton Pass set should stay offensive, I think, only passing when you need to run. (Which is no problem considering Cawmodore’s high speed). I even have a flavor reason! Frigatebirds stay in the air most of the time, often more than a week! They only land to mate or take care of children.

Korski · Oct 24, 2013

Final Submission

This is a pretty fun art design to build a flavorful movepool around. We've got the obvious Flying-type elements of the frigate bird as well as the necessary Steel overtones and Fighting/Water-type undertones from the nautical theme of the art and name (e.g. Detect, Quick Guard, Rock Smash, Brine, Water Sport, Rain Dance, etc.), all of which I try to emphasize throughout the movepool. On the competitive side, this movepool is predominantly offensive and offers a strategically powerful single coverage type in Fighting, specifically Drain Punch, to supplement Commodore's STAB attacks. There isn't a whole lot of room for variation in movesets here by my estimation, but that is by design. There may be wiggle room between Acrobatics and Drill Peck, and then possibly amongst Bullet Punch, Knock Off, Rest, and Substitute, but I don't expect standard sets to deviate much at all from the Belly Drum / Acrobatics / Drain Punch / Bullet Punch setup.

(15 moves, 5 VGMs)

0. Leer
0. Peck
5. Growl
9. Swift
13. Metal Claw
18. Screech
22. Wing Attack
26. Detect
31. Steel Wing
35. Belly Drum
39. Bullet Punch
44. Brine
48. Tailwind
52. Flash Cannon
58. Hurricane

Here I've tried to bring out the personality of the art design as I see it, that is, of a rough-and-tumble sailor-bird that oozes confidence and doesn't know the meaning of the word "retreat." Cawmodore is always moving forward, never looking back and never backing down from a fight. There's no such thing as "too fast" (Tailwind) or "too strong" (Belly Drum) to Cawmodore, no, in fact, this mighty bird is a surly, salty brawler who will never surrender because it downright refuses to lose.

So, the Level-Up pool here follows a steady transition from more "biological" moves in the early (likely pre-evolved) stage to more "nautical" ones as Cawmodore's brutish and seafaring aspects come to light in later levels. Early moves like Leer, Peck, and Swift are standard fare for birdmons, while Growl and Screech reflect the primary ability, Intimidate, rather well. The primary attacks of these early stages of development are Metal Claw, Wing Attack, and Steel Wing, as they seem to fit incredibly well together in progression and with the understood way this Poke would use its body to attack.

At L35, Cawmodore learns Belly Drum (might be a good place for an evolution!) and thus transitions into the nautical movepool progression. Of these, I especially like the combination of Bullet Punch and Flash Cannon for their connotations of heavy artillery within the naval theme. Brine is a really flavorful addition that brings the water element (salt water, even) that I liked about the overall art design into this section of the movepool. I also added Tailwind and Hurricane to establish a "wind theme" that goes really well with the Flying-typing and the sailor vibe, especially. Hurricane is a good last move here, too, as it demonstrates a sailor's dominance and control over his closest friend and most mortal enemy, the unforgiving sea.

(Flying group; 9 moves, 4 VGMs)

Air Slash - Braviary, Crobat, Farfetch’d, Mandibuzz, Noctowl, Pelipper, Pidgeot, Sigilyph, Skarmory, Swanna, Swellow, Swoobat, Togekiss, Unfezant
Drill Peck - Dodrio, Fearow, Honchkrow, Skarmory, Xatu
Metal Sound - Skarmory
Mirror Move - Altaria, Chatot, Dodrio, Farfetch’d, Fearow, Honchkrow, Mandibuzz, Noctowl, Pidgeot, Sigilyph, Swanna, Swellow, Togekiss
Pursuit - Aerodactyl, Altaria, Crobat, Dodrio, Fearow, Honchkrow, Pelipper, Pidgeot, Skarmory, Staraptor, Swellow
Quick Attack - Archeops, Crobat, Dodrio, Farfetch’d, Fearow, Honchkrow, Pelipper, Pidgeot, Staraptor, Swellow, Unfezant, Xatu
Quick Guard - Archeops
Razor Wind - Fearow, Unfezant
Water Sport - Pelipper, Swanna

Legal Move Combinations:
Air Slash + Drill Peck + Metal Sound + Pursuit (Skarmory)
Air Slash + Pursuit + Quick Attack + Water Sport (Pelipper)
Air Slash + Quick Attack + Razor Wind (Unfezant)
Air Slash + Mirror Move + Quick Attack (Farfetch’d)
Drill Peck + Mirror Move + Pursuit + Quick Attack + Razor Wind (Fearow)
Mirror Move + Water Sport (Swanna)
Quick Attack + Quick Guard (Archeops)

Illegal Move Combinations:
Air Slash + Quick Guard
Drill Peck + Quick Guard + Water Sport
Metal Sound + Mirror Move + Quick Guard
Metal Sound + Quick Guard + Razor Wind
Metal Sound + Quick Attack
Metal Sound + Water Sport
Pursuit + Quick Guard
Razor Wind + Quick Guard + Water Sport

Note: There aren't any notable Egg move illegalities, mostly because there aren't many notable Egg moves.

The Egg pool flavor is a continuation of the themes established in the Level-up pool. The combative, war ship elements are reflected here with the additions of Metal Sound (clang!) and Pursuit. Cawmodore can be bred to learn advanced aerial and fighting techniques like Air Slash, Drill Peck, Mirror Move, and Quick Guard. Also carried over from the LU pool are the nautical theme (Water Sport), the wind theme (Razor Wind), and the need for speed (Quick Attack, Quick Guard).

(28 moves, 14 VGMs)

TM06 - Toxic
TM10 - Hidden Power
TM15 - Hyper Beam
TM17 - Protect
TM18 - Rain Dance
TM21 - Frustration
TM23 - Smack Down
TM27 - Return
TM31 - Brick Break
TM32 - Double Team
TM40 - Aerial Ace
TM42 - Facade
TM44 - Rest
TM45 - Attract
TM48 - Round
TM58 - Sky Drop
TM62 - Acrobatics
TM67 - Retaliate
TM68 - Giga Impact
TM77 - Psych Up
TM87 - Swagger
TM88 - Pluck
TM90 - Substitute
TM91 - Flash Cannon
TM94 - Rock Smash
HM02 - Fly
HM03 - Surf
HM04 - Strength

Here (Acrobatics) and in the Tutor pool (Drain Punch), we see how Cawmodore's true power comes from its training. The TM list is an efficient grouping of tricks and techniques that showcase this Pokemon's potential for battle prowess. Cawmodore's aerial skill is on full display here, with access to Acrobatics, Aerial Ace, Fly, Pluck, and Sky Drop, in addition to showoffy moves like Swagger and Smack Down that are designed to embarrass lesser opponents. Fighting flavor is reinforced in the TM pool with Brick Break and Rock Smash, while Water flavor comes through with Rain Dance and Surf. And of course Cawmodore learns Strength, as it is the surly bird's most important trait.

There are 28 moves in the TM/HM pool, with Flash Cannon repeating from the Level-Up pool, leaving 27 moves unique to this list.

(10 moves, 5 VGMs)

Block
Drain Punch
Endeavor
Iron Head
Knock Off
Sky Attack
Sleep Talk
Snatch
Snore
Tailwind

Finally, the Tutor moves complete the movepool with some more flavor additions like Block (frigate birds have a crazy wingspan, perfect for cornering and blocking off retreating opponents), Endeavor, and Sky Attack. Other moves I have added for pseudo-gimmicky competitive reasons, like Knock Off for Choice Scarf switch-ins and Snatch for opposing Cawmodore looking to set up.

There are 9 moves in the Tutor pool, with Tailwind repeating from the Level-Up pool, leaving 8 moves unique to this list.

(60 moves, 25 VGMs)

Attacking VGMs (17):

Acrobatics
Aerial Ace
Brick Break
Bullet Punch
Drain Punch
Drill Peck
Iron Head

Endeavor
Facade
Frustration / Return
Pursuit
Quick Attack

Air Slash
Flash Cannon
Hidden Power
Hurricane
Surf

Non-Attacking VGMs (8):

Belly Drum
Detect / Protect
Knock Off
Rain Dance
Rest
Sleep Talk
Substitute
Toxic

Competitively, I tried to take into account several prevailing attitudes from our previous discussions. First and foremost, I wanted to ensure that Belly Drum would be its best set, as per the second Concept Assessment. This is a fundamental requirement for any movepool submission here, as Belly Drum's general terribleness will cause its usage to fall by the wayside if any other options, at all, are available. There simply aren't enough useful moves in this movepool to fill out a set that has any kind of merit without Belly Drum; there's no Roost, no Baton Pass, no exotic coverage, and no real utility here, which should ensure that viable movesets won't stray from the original intention of our design.

The second attitude from past discussions I strongly considered was the inherent risk/reward nature of Belly Drum, not only on the Pokemon itself, but in using up an entire teamslot on a Belly Drummer to begin with. Despite this Poke's abilities, I still believe that there is an astronomical risk involved in making a BD set work, first in setup and second in execution. On setup, I imagine being handicapped to a team of 5 so that the Belly Drummer could be preserved enough to actually get a shot at setting up later in the match, and that's before even considering the in-battle scenarios wherein the CAP could actually use the move and put it to its intended use. I imagine the specific precautions that will need to be made before committing to a 50% HP sacrifice, crucially the elimination of both Choice Scarfers and stubborn defensive threats like Skarmory. Then, after those precautions are made, there is the actual attempt at boosting, which will need to be done without the opponent simply attacking through it. The strategic requirements of this strategy are far more than every other boosting sweeper has to deal with, which is a big disadvantage for this CAP. These are the main reasons why I believe a big reward is in order for the big risk involved in using this Pokemon; I was not afraid to give Cawmodore both Acrobatics and Drain Punch simply because they do a great job at sweeping that no other move combination can mimic. The checks list is a very important element of most CAP Projects, but I think it is less significant this time around, and that is due to the very nature of relying on Belly Drum to have any kind of effectiveness in OU.

Drain Punch is actually a pretty fun move here. Having ideal 2-move coverage in Flying and Fighting actually leaves room for Bullet Punch in the standard set, which is imo pretty awesome. The healing effect of Drain Punch is less overwhelming than I think a lot of people are assuming. While managing 44-52% to Skarmory at +6, Drain Punch heals back only 31-36% of Cawmodore's HP before it gets Phazed out, which gives it a severely encumbered but still plausible second shot at a sweep. If you want to factor in one Belly Drum and two rounds of Stealth Rock damage only, this will leave you at 56-61% HP on your second attempt, just barely enough to try for another boost if you've taken less than 6-11% in other damage. Remember, Skarmory's best option is to wall and Phaze (Brave Bird: 17.4% - 21.2%), making it a soft check at best. Drain Punch also keeps Ferrothorn from stalling out Cawmodore with Leech Seed and Protect while it sets up, which is nice.

Umm, I included Tailwind for flavor purposes entirely, and as I said before, there is nothing in this movepool that could supplement a utility moveset. A set with Tailwind would be one without cohesion, so the set's effectiveness would be equivalent to the strength of the move itself, which is very small.

SoulMuse · Oct 24, 2013

VGMs: 27
Non VGMs: 60

VGMs in BOLD

Final Submission

0 Belly Drum
0 Leer
0 Peck
1 Gust
3 Astonish
5 Water Gun
7 Metal Claw
9 Wing Attack
11 Quick Attack
17 Slash
22 Crush Claw
29 Bullet Punch
31 Drill Peck
36 Air Slash
42 Night Slash
51 Hurricane

With my level up selections I tried to establish a sort of progression, building from weaker to stronger moves as we go. The idea is that Cawmodore starts off very inexperienced, and as it grows, the more tools it gains to abuse Belly Drum which I went ahead and put at the very beginning of the movepool. From there, we have Peck, a pretty standard bird move, along with Leer, which keeps in line with Intimidate on a flavor level, as it would make sense for an intimidating Pokémon to Leer at its foes. Gust is a standard fare for a bird, and Water Gun was chosen to keep with the mariner theme. Metal Claw was chosen as a pretty standard Steel type move, Quick attack is a standard bird move, and Slash is a standard move on those Pokémon with claws and talons. Crush Claw follows the logic that Cawmodore could use it’s talons to crush an opponent, with Bullet Punch, Drill Peck and Air Slash are pretty standard flavor options. Night Slash is another talon/claw based move, and Hurricane capstones the moveset with a powerful STAB.

Fly
Toxic
Rest
Protect
Acrobatics
Rain Dance
Return/Frustration
Hidden Power
Façade
Substitute
Aerial Ace
False Swipe
Sky Drop
Shadow Claw
Payback
X-Scissor
Snarl
Flash Cannon
Rock Smash
Giga Impact
Hyper Beam
Double Team
Swagger
Round
Smack Down
Quash
Retaliate

Much of this list is standard flavor fare, including Return/Frustration, Toxic Sub, and so on. Bear with me, this is going to jump around a bit. Quash/Smack Down was chosen as I see sailors fighting dirty, and basically stomping on your opponents moves so you can’t attack quickly seems to be the epitome of that. Snarl seems to fit the idea of Cawmodore being intimidating as well. Shadow Claw, False Swipe, and X-Scissor fall into the group of moves that seem to fit with using claws and talons well. Payback and retaliate were chosen as I see Cawmodore being the kind of mon/bird/whatever that will get up and hit you back after getting hit. Flash Cannon fits the nautical theme, being cannon themed (Pity there aren’t any moves based on torpedoes that I can think of).

Iron Head
Uproar
Hyper Voice
Iron Tail
Snore
Drain Punch
Dark Pulse
Sleep Talk
Knock Off
Foul Play

Tutor moves are mostly all pretty flavor choices excluding Steel type staples such as Iron Head and Iron Tail. Uproar and Hyper Voice were chosen because as a sailor, Cawmodore is going to have to be loud and boisterous, and generally capable of making something of a scene. Drain Punch is mostly competitive; with Snore/Sleep Talk being not quite required by most things learn it so it falls under the expected category. In keeping with my theme of Cawmodore not fighting fair is Foul Play, and Dark Pulse. Bug Bite, well I don't see Cawmodore

Aqua Jet
Ice Punch
Sky Attack
Ominous Wind
Steel Wing

My egg moves list is fairly short, comprising of two moves from Azumarril, Ice Punch and Aqua Jet, which are competitive, and Sky Attack, which serves as a sort of penultimate Flying attack.

P2X7 · Oct 24, 2013

Final Submission:

00 Peck
00 Leer
06 Gust
12 Swift
17 Wing Attack
21 Metal Claw
27 Thief
33 Swagger
38 Brine
42 Aerial Ace
48 Helping Hand
54 Wide Guard
59 Rain Dance
64 Hurricane
69 Belly Drum

From a competitive standpoint, not much stands out here, except for Belly Drum, the move the entire concept is based around, which is sitting pretty as the last move learned.

From a flavor standpoint, I designed the movepool to simulate the growth of the CAP, from hatchling to young adult to full-fledged sailor, in addition to having some sailing/aquatic/nautical themes, while still keeping relevant type-move flavor. Cawmodore starts by learning Peck and Growl, which are fairly standard moves on any bird Pokemon. As Cawmodore grows, it gains moves that are common on Flying- and Steel-types, such as Swift, Wing Attack, and Metal Claw, along with Gust, which is less common but still prominent. Frigate birds steal food from smaller seabirds, so Thief maintains a connection to the real animal, while Swagger is a kind of obvious move, given the ~~ego~~ swagger that the main artwork implies. Later down along the line, Cawmodore learns Brine, representing the saltwater found in the ocean where it would (presumably) occupy, along with moves that help its teammates, Helping Hand and Wide Guard, as sailors work together as a crew when on the open seas. Cawmodore then learns Rain Dance and Hurricane to finalize its oceanic skills, and the movepool ends with Belly Drum, as Cawmodore has trained enough to unlock its full potential.

TM06 Toxic
TM10 Hidden Power
TM11 Sunny Day
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect
TM18 Rain Dance *
TM21 Frustration (Counts as one VGM with Return)
TM27 Return (Counts as one VGM with Frustration.)
TM31 Brick Break
TM32 Double Team
TM42 Facade
TM44 Rest
TM45 Attract
TM46 Thief *
TM48 Round
TM58 Sky Drop
TM62 Acrobatics
TM68 Giga Impact
TM86 Grass Knot
TM87 Swagger *
TM88 Pluck
TM90 Substitute
TM91 Flash Cannon
TM94 Rock Smash
HM02 Fly
HM03 Surf
HM04 Strength

The pool of TMs is rather small, encompassing all generic moves such as Hidden Power, Protect, Substitute, etc. while containing a few moves common on Flying-types such as Fly, Pluck, and, most notably, Acrobatics, the move that will likely be an important part of its standard set. Also shown are moves that showcase Cawmodore's strength, such as Brick Break, Sky Drop, Strength, and Sky Drop. The TM list is topped off with Surf, which represents its sailing prowess, and Grass Knot, which represents sailors' knowledge of tying knots.

Block
Drain Punch
Helping Hand *
Ice Punch
Icy Wind
Iron Head
Knock Off
Tailwind
Sky Attack
Sleep Talk
Snore

The pool of Tutor moves contain a few generic moves such as Sleep Talk and Snore, while also including fairly standard moves for Flying- and Steel-types, specifically Iron Head, Tailwind, and Sky Attack. A couple of different Ice-type moves also make an appearance, as the movepool already has similarities to that of Water-types, and the inclusion of said moves help to complete these similarities. Also included is Drain Punch, the other (presumed) move to be included in its standard set, and Knock Off, which could possibly see usage on a niche set, but it probably won't see too much use, so it isn't that big of a deal. Finishing the list is Block, as Cawmodore certainly appears to be big enough to perform the move, taking into account its large wingspan.

Aqua Jet
Bestow
Bide
Defog
Drill Peck
Encore
Hydro Pump

Aqua Jet + Drill Peck (Empoleon)
Aqua Jet + Bide (Empoleon, Carracosta)
Aqua Jet + Encore (Golduck, Dewgong, Azumarill)
Aqua Jet + Hydro Pump (Blastoise, Golduck, Feraligatr, Azumarill, Masquerain, Empoleon, Floatzel, Carracosta, Alomomola)
Bestow + Encore (Togekiss)
Bide + Drill Peck (Empoleon)
Bide + Hydro Pump (Omastar, Swampert, Empoleon, Carracosta)
Drill Peck + Hydro Pump (Empoleon)
Encore + Hydro Pump (Golduck, Poliwrath, Politoed, Azumarill)

Finally, we come to the list of Egg moves, which keeps up the nautical/aquatic theme with Aqua Jet and Hydro Pump, while also providing an alternative Flying STAB in Drill Peck, and an additional setup opportunity in Encore. Also included are Defog, which is a relatively common move for Flying-types, at least as an Egg move, Bestow, which reinforces the undertones of teamwork shown by the moves that appear in its Level-Up movepool, specifically Helping Hand and Wide Guard, with the movepool being finished by the inclusion of Bide, which doesn't really make that much of an impact, as Cawmodore has a low HP stat, but still maintains a bit of relevance, as it appears in a few Water-types' move pools, and given the already established connections to Water-types that are present in the movepool, it isn't that much of a stretch. Also, just saying, I would have liked to stick Charge in here to offer at least some sort of an explanation as to why it gets Volt Absorb, but, unfortunately, Special Defense boosting moves are banned, so oh well.

Total Moves: 57

VGMs: 24

Non-VGMs: 33

Legend:
Bold = VGM
* = Repeated Move

topher4167 · Oct 26, 2013

Final Submission

I'm going to throw my movepool out there; I hope you like it. Please tell me if I did anything wrong or if there's something that you want me to change; I'm open to all of your opinions. I will try to edit in an explanation soon, but no promises.

1. Belly Drum*
1. Peck
1. Leer
1. Focus Energy
5. Water Gun
12. Metal Claw
17. Wing Attack
24. Defog
29. Steel Wing
36. Acrobatics*
44. Metal Sound
49. Iron Head*
55. Rain Dance*
60. Heavy Slam*
68. Hurricane*

TM06 Toxic*
TM10 Hidden Power*
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect*
TM18 Rain Dance* (Repeat of level up)
TM21 Frustration*
TM23 Smack Down
TM27 Return*
TM32 Double Team
TM40 Aerial Ace*
TM41 Torment
TM42 Façade*
TM44 Rest*
TM45 Attract
TM46 Thief
TM48 Round
TM58 Sky Drop
TM62 Acrobatics* (Repeat of level up)
TM66 Payback*
TM67 Retaliate
TM68 Giga Impact
TM74 Gyro Ball*
TM84 Poison Jab*
TM87 Swagger
TM88 Pluck
TM90 Substitute*
TM91 Flash Cannon*
HM02 Fly
HM04 Strength

Aqua Jet*
Baton Pass*
Bullet Punch*
Gravity*
Haze*
Mist
Quick Attack*
Wide Guard

Drain Punch*
Icy Wind
Iron Head* (Repeat of level up)
Roost*
Sleep Talk*
Snore
Tailwind
Zen Headbutt*

*VGMs

54 total moves, 29 VGMs

DarkSlay · Oct 26, 2013

Due to the number of submissions and the WIP status of most of them, I am extending the submission period by one day. That means this is the 48 Hour Warning post. I will provide commentary for submissions at the 24 hour warning post.

Bughouse · Oct 27, 2013

I've made a spreadsheet of what seemed to be the most important moves to me which can be found at goo.my/cawmodore (or for fans of original, unshortened links: this.) Let me know if there are any moves you would like added to/taken off of this list. My reasoning for the not-so-obvious ones included is here:

Ice Punch and Rock Slide in theory cover a Defensive Zapdos, which lives +6 Acrobatics even after Stealth Rock.
Seed Bomb covers the Unaware Quagsire.
Tailwind because it was the move specifically mentioned for DarkSlay for extra scrutiny as a non-VGM that may have snuck in.

Since I know several of these are still quite WIP, please post to let me know what changes are going on, so I can keep this up-to-date.

DarkSlay · Oct 27, 2013

This is the 24 Hour Warning. I took a look at the movepools posted, and none of them appear to have any glaring mistakes or oversights of the AM/NAM lists, so good job! A quick general reminder to make sure that your movepool is completely finished by the deadline, proper in format and "Final Submission" inserted at the top of the post, or else I cannot add your movepool to my potential slate. If you have any last minute questions, feel free to PM or VM me and I'll try to get to them as soon as possible.

Bughouse · Oct 27, 2013

An additional flavor reminder for those concerned with being as realistic a Pokemon as possible:

Try to include all the "required" TMs (aka learned by all TM learners in Gen V): Facade, Return, Frustration, Double Team, Toxic, Swagger, Substitute, Round, and Hidden Power I believe is the full list. Also, though not required, these basically are too: Hyper Beam and Giga Impact.

Double check your move tutor moves too. I think almost everything learns Snore, for example.

Pata Hikari · Oct 27, 2013

To be exact, every fully evolved Pokemon that can learn TMs can learn Hyper beam and Giga Impact.

And you're right on Snore. The only Pokemon that don't learn Snore are those that don't learn any TM moves and Pokemon with the insomnia and Vital Spirit abilities.

Qwilphish · Oct 28, 2013

Final Submission

59 Moves; 28 VGMs

18 Moves; 8 VGMs
-Peck
-Fury Attack
7- SonicBoom
12- Air Cutter
15- Quick Attack
20- Razor Wind
23- Detect
28- Take Down
31- Defog
36- Steel Wing
39- Belly Drum
44- Baton Pass
47- Drill Peck
52- Tailwind
55- Seismic Toss
60- Metal Sound
63- Bullet Punch
68- Acrobatics
68- Hurricane

Level-Up Reasoning
The Level-Up Movepool consists of the main attacking options of Cawmodore. The Levels are base upon the Level-Up pattern of Pelipper who not only shares the same seabird idea but has a similar number of Level-Up moves as Cawmodore as well. The movepool in the beginning is very offensive not getting a non-attacking move until Lv. 23. This is to show the progression of Cawmodore as a captain, as Cawmodore becomes more experienced in commanding and battling at sea it begins to use more advanced techniques (e.g. Detect, Tailwind, Metal Sound). However, at Lv.39 the movepool takes another turn after Cawmodore learns Belly Drum, as the movepool turns almost into exclusively VGMs or at least moves that are sure to aid Cawmodore in battle. Baton Pass is the kick-off to Cawmodore's smarter, not harder, leading style, learning to take advantage of his allies instead of going into battle alone (which is how Cawmodore should play in game anyways :o) Seismic Toss is added to reference Cawmodore's frigate bird origins as they are related to pelicans who are known for carrying food in their beaks. Metal Sound is both a reference to its Steel-typing and a one to the "caw" in its name. The final two moves, Hurricane and Acrobatics, being learned at the same time is meant to symbolize complete control over both Cawmodores mental and physical strength.

For the competitive reasoning, The Level-Up movepool is where most of the moves that Cawmodore will be using come from. The Flying STABs I chose were Drill Peck and Acrobatics. I felt that Acrobatics was necessary because we need that power in order to break past some of the sturdier walls that we concluded should NOT be checks to Cawmodore like Hippowdown and Landorus-T. This is especially needed considering my lack of a Fighting Move that is over 60 BP. Drill Peck is obligatory on most sets as it is a safe and flavorful move. For Normal moves the only one worth mentioning is Quick Attack as it is a neutral priority option should Bullet Punch be unappealing. The only Steel move of note is Bullet Punch. I felt that this was a necessary addition because it allows for us to beat other priorities as well as frail scarfers that we should be able to. The main Support move I included was Tailwind. I included this because not only does it have the potential to fulfill the concept greatly, but it also gives us a way to get past a check if we play good. I also feel that this is a safe move to include because of its short span of 3 turns at max especially considering that it would be extremely difficult to not only get two free turns, but also only being able to abuse the effect for two turns. Baton Pass is very, very healthy for the concept as it takes advantage of Belly Drum in a unique way and is probably what will make Cawmodore stick out, and make the Belly Drum set its best one. Belly Drum is a given and Metal Sound has no potential for use considering the only usable special move it has access to is Hurricane.

Flying and Water 1 Groups
9 Moves; 4 VGMs

Wide Guard - Mantine, Carracosta, Alomomola, Swampert

Brine- Many

Endeavor- Dodrio, Swampert, Swellow, Staraptor, Swoobat, Archeops, Poliwag, Corsola, Togekiss, Swanna

Mirror Move- Pidgeot, Fearow, Swablu, Chatot, Sigilyph, Mandibuzz, Farfetch'd, Dodrio, Noctowl, Honchkrow, Swellow, Swanna

Haze- Crobat, Quagsire, Honchkrow, Blastoise, Poliwag, Dodrio, Omastar, Dratini, Xatu, Qwilfish, Octillery, Mantine, Altaria

FeatherDance- Pidgeot, Chatot, Unfezant, Swanna, Fearow, Farfetch'd, Noctowl, Xatu, Honchkrow, Altaria, Empoleon, Staraptor

Fake Out- Ludicolo, Blastoise, Dewgong, Delibird

Final Gambit- Staraptor

Encore- Dewgong, Togekiss, Walrein, Emolga, Golduck, Poliwag, Azumarill, Chatot

Legal Move Combinations

Endeavor+Final Gambit+FeatherDance: Staraptor
Haze+Mirror Move: Honchkrow
Haze+EncoreBrine+Encore: Poliwag
Wide Guard+Haze+Brine: Mantine
Encore+Endeavor: Togekiss
Haze+Endeavor+Mirror Move: Dodrio
Wide Guard+Endeavor+Brine: Swampert
Fake Out+Haze+Brine: Blastoise
Mirror Move+Encore+FeatherDance: Chatot
Fake Out+Encore+Brine: Dewgong
FeatherDance+Haze: Xatu, Honchkrow, Altaria

Illegal Move Combinations

Final Gambit+(Anything besides Endeavor and FeatherDance)
Wide Guard+(Anything besides Haze, Brine, Endeavor and Encore)
Fake Out+FeatherDance

Egg Move Reasoning
The Egg Moves are a continuation of Cawmodore's flavor profile. Wide Guard references the wingspan of the frigate bird as well as Cawmodore's loyalty to its crew. Final Gambit and Endeavor also goes along with this "Heart on the Line" type of mentality. FeatherDance and Mirror Move are both common moves among Pokemon in the Flying egg group, but they didn't make sense if I put them among the Level-Up movepool so they were put here. Brine references Cawmordore's seabird inspiration. Haze also goes with the nautical reference and the dirtiness of a sailor. Encore is here to reference the sailor theme. Finally, Fake Out is there to show the intimidating nature of Cawmodore.

The only good, competitive move is Encore. Encore is usable for set-up and is a valuable asset to Cawmodore's movepool. It can also be used for mind games with the opponent, as if the last move they used was a supportive one then they can either switch out, and thus give us a free turn to Belly Drum or they can be Encore'd and we will be given a free turn that way. Endeavor can be used as a pseudo-Super Fang, however it is unusable without Belly Drum so it is not anti-concept. Final Gambit with 50 HP also has little to no use. Haze has no use on any Cawmodore set but it isn't necessarily anti-concept because it doesn't have any use by itself anyways.

27 Moves; 14 VMGs; 1 Repeat
06- Toxic
10- Hidden Power
15- Hyper Beam
17- Protect
18- Rain Dance
21- Frustration
27- Return
32- Double Team
40- Aerial Ace
42- Facade
44- Rest
45- Attract
46- Thief
48- Round
62- Acrobatics
63- Embargo
66- Payback
67- Retaliate
68- Giga Impact
77- Psych Up
80- Rock Slide
84- Poison Jab
87- Swagger
90- Substitute
91- Flash Cannon
02- Fly
04- Strength

TM Reasoning
The TM List is filled with mostly required moves with a few flavorful ones. Thief is a reference to its sailor roots. Embargo also goes along with this line of reasoning, with the hoarding of items to itself. Payback is like Thief with the Dark motif throughout Cawmodore. Rock Slide's reasoning is that it shows Cawmodore's strength by being able to rain rocks. Poison Jab is akin to Haze because they both deal with the dirty life of a sailor. Flash Cannon is there because of the Steel typing and the sheen on Cawmodore. Fly and Strength are obvious due to the Flying-typing and Cawmodore's strength that I've been mentioning.

The most controversial move on this list is Rock Slide which helps against both Zapdos and other moves that resist Flying. I believe that Rock Slide is the best coverage option that we can go for, because unlike Fighting coverage, it doesn't completely screw up our checks/counters completely while still hitting key things that resist Flying/Steel. Poison Jab is insignificant as coverage because it does nothing that Steel+Flying can do. Payback is also insignificant as Rock Slide outclasses it as coverage. Flash Cannon is unusable because of our 65 SpA stat.

5 Moves; 2 VGMs; 1 Repeat
Iron Head
Snore
Roost
Tailwind
Sleep Talk

Move Tutor Reasoning
The move tutor moves are straightforward in terms of flavor so there is no need to go over it.

Iron Head is a good STAB move without priority that should be available if the player wants one. Sleep Talk is a required move that /could/ go along with Rest if you were to go with a mono-attacking set. Roost is the most controversial move, but I feel it is an okay move to include as it is not anti-concept. This is especially so because of our low BP moves combined with a low attacking stat making a LO set not as efficient as possible.

Brick Break/Drain Punch: These moves are unnecessary and allow us to beat things that we have on our checks/counters that we have planned from the very beginning to be so. The coverage that we get from Rock Slide allow for us to defeat things that Volt Absorb allowed us to beat anyways.

Mach Punch/Aqua Jet/Shadow Sneak: I don't feel the necessity of these moves especially considering we already have Quick Attack (Neutral Coverage) and Bullet Punch (Strong Priority). These moves have weird effects on the interactions with other Pokemon that I can't foresee as a positive addition to the concept.

Destiny Bond: Destiny Bond is distracting when you have as high of a speed as we do and in addition we already know how it can affect the metagame (Froslass, Gengar) and thus I decided against it.

Knock-Off- It isn't really flavorful and it doesn't do anything for the concept, so I decided against it.

alexwolf · Oct 28, 2013

Brave Bird is neither in the Allowed nor in the Disallowed moves list so what happens with this move (a clearly anti-concept move)?

Bughouse · Oct 28, 2013

alexwolf said:
Brave Bird is neither in the Allowed nor in the Disallowed moves list so what happens with this move (a clearly anti-concept move)?

Huh, this seems to be right. No decision was officially ever made on Brave Bird, though tbh I can't remember a single person actually being in favor of the move. However, even if it had gotten some support, any VGM not explicitly allowed is automatically disallowed.

jas61292 · Oct 28, 2013

srk has it right. As it says on the site (the page linked in the OP), "No competitive move that is not specifically listed as allowed in the Movepool Discussion stage can appear on any submitted movepool."

99_Problems · Oct 28, 2013

Final Submission

First time doing something like this, but here goes.

I decided to build my movepool based on the traits of actual frigate birds. Due to their tendency to attack other seabirds, steal their food, and just generally be assholes, I decided on a moderately heavy Dark undertone, including moves such as Beat Up, Pursuit, and Torment. A focus on Acrobatics and its natural quickness call for use of quick, somewhat weak Fighting moves. Finally, the obvious Water theme results in such goodies as Hydro Pump and Ice-type coverage.

7 VGMs, 15 total

1 Leer
1 Peck
5 Focus Energy
9 Swift
13 Detect
17 Bullet Punch
21 Beat up
25 Swagger
30 Brine
35 Drill Peck
39 Steel Wing
44 Belly Drum
50 Night Slash
56 Flash Cannon
62 Hurricane

11 VGMs, 27 total, 2 repeat

TM06 Toxic
TM10 Hidden Power
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM18 Rain Dance
TM21 Frustration
TM23 Smack Down
TM27 Return
TM31 Brick Break
TM32 Double Team
TM40 Aerial Ace
TM41 Torment
TM42 Facade
TM44 Rest
TM46 Thief
TM47 Low Sweep
TM48 Round
TM58 Sky Drop
TM62 Acrobatics
TM68 Giga Impact
TM87 Swagger~
TM88 Pluck
TM90 Substitute
TM91 Flash Cannon~
TM94 Rock Smash

HM02 Fly
HM03 Surf
HM04 Strength

6 VGMs, 12 total

Roost
Snore
Block
Ice Punch
Snatch
Iron Head
Knock Off
Tailwind
Helping Hand
Sky Attack
Icy Wind
Sleep Talk

Egg Groups - Flying, Water 1
5 VGMs, 8 total, 1 repeat

Encore
Aqua Jet
Icicle Spear
Tailwind~
Pursuit
Gust
Screech
Hydro Pump

VGMs: 29
Acrobatics
Aerial Ace
Aqua Jet
Belly Drum
Block
Brick Break
Bullet Punch
Detect
Drill Peck
Encore
Facade
Flash Cannon
Frustration
Hidden Power
Hurricane
Hydro Pump
Ice Punch
Icicle Spear
Iron Head
Knock Off
Night Slash
Pursuit
Rain Dance
Rest
Roost
Sleep Talk
Surf
Substitute
Toxic

Non-VGMs: 30
Beat up
Brine
Double Team
Fly
Focus Energy
Giga Impact
Gus
Helping Hand
Hyper Beam
Icy Wind
Leer
Low Sweep
Peck
Pluck
Return
Rock Smash
Round
Screech
Sky Attack
Sky Drop
Smack Down
Snatch
Snore
Steel Wing
Strength
Swagger
Swift
Tailwind
Thief
Torment
Total: 59

Unfortunately, due to time constraints resulting from conflicts with my work schedule, I didn't have time to do a full and comprehensive writeup about my submission. However, I should be able to hit most of the important points here. I apologize in advance for the inevitable incoherent thought trains.

Notable competitive inclusions:

Belly Drum: The move that made the 'mon.

Acrobatics: The muscle that Cawmodore needs to sweep, break down walls, and generally just wreak havoc. Very few pokemon can survive a +6 Flying Gem-boosted Acrobatics, which is likely to be crucial to Cawmodore's success. The move also supports the concept by encouraging use of items that synergize with Belly Drum, like Salac and Sitrus berries.

Drill Peck: The alternative to Acrobatics for those that prefer to keep their item. Probably worse than Acrobatics in most situations, but I wanted to leave the option there so players can decide for themselves.

Bullet Punch: The obligitory STAB priority move that Cawmodore will most likely need to succeed. Its ability to deal with many common scarfers and priority users makes it a definite requirement.

Iron Head: The strongest Steel-type move in the pool, Iron Head provides a powerful secondary STAB option if that's what you're in the market for. However, Steel isn't exactly the greatest of attacking types on its own so this move will most likely be outclassed by Bullet Punch in most situations.

Brick Break: The Fighting coverage Cawmodore needs to beat certain steel types comes in the form of this move. Pretty straightforward, just a solid coverage move with a side effect that occasionally comes in handy.

Ice Punch/Icicle Spear: Both provide relatively straightforward Ice coverage to hit Hippowdon, Landorus-t and the like. Ice punch has added consistency, while Icicle Spear has the utility of breaking subs, sturdy, and Sashes, which could possibly aid in a Cawmodore sweep.

Aqua Jet: Cawwmodore's only form of physical water coverage, hits for a decent amount of damage in rain and pairs well with Cawmodore's STABs. Despite this, a general lack of power relegates it to either countering ScarfTran or serving as a Bullet Punch that has a less bad typing.

Encore: A pretty nice move to have, actually, and very fitting to the original concept. Encore lets you play mindgames when staring down opposing setup sweepers, and can very reasonably create setup opportunities in the right situation. It can also be a fun gimmick to run alongside Torment if you're into that kind of thing.

Roost: I was on the fence about this move for a long time. I eventually included it for several reasons.
- 1) Cawmodore lacks the tools to use it as an effective defensive option
- 2) Cawmodore already suffers from 4MSS, so fitting Roost on a set is not easy
- 3) Baton Pass isn't in this movepool (more on that later), meaning Cawmodore won't be able to abuse a set containing Belly Drum, Baton Pass, and Roost

Knock Off - A marginally useful support move that can allow Cawmodore to remove scarves and enable it to sweep later in the match. Aside from that, it probably isn't all too useful. Pretty flavorful, though.

Night Slash/Pursuit: Mainly included for flavor, but they are VGMs. Dark coverage doesn't really do a whole lot, but Pursuit's utility is definitely not to be discounted.

Hurricane/Hydro Pump/miscellaneous special moves: None of these moves will be making much of an appearance due to Cawmodore's piss-weak special attack, but both have their niche uses. Rain-boosted Hydro Pump still hits pretty hard and can surprise switch-ins like Skarmory, Heatran, and Magnezone/ton. Specsbird could also be good for a laugh.

Tailwind: While not a VGM, it definitely deserves a little something in this section. Competitively, it's definitely subpar. Cawmodore already sits in a godlike speed tier making the speed boost near useless, and the move isn't exactly the best support move. Overall just a fun flavor addition that will have a very small, if any, competitive impact.

Low Sweep: Also not a VGM, but may see use as an extremely niche move. Definitely worse than Brick Break in most respects, its been included purely for the sake of giving a utility option at the cost of a considerable amount of power.

Notable exclusions:

Drain Punch: The first and probably most controversial, I am very against Drain Punch, the foremost reason being a SubDrum set with Salac berry sweeps the world, bypassing most counters except a very healthy Skarmory and a Zam with intact sash. I also firmly believe that Cawmodore needs to have some kind of opportunity cost to recover, be it a moveslot (Roost), a free turn (also Roost), or an item (Sitrus Berry). Having huge amounts of free healing tacked on to an excellent coverage move is a bit much.

Baton Pass: Earlier on in the CAP process this might have been an acceptable move, but with Cawmodore firmly being placed in the role of a BD sweeper, Baton Pass seems a bit anti-concept. Steering away from U-turn replacements is probably a good idea to discourage bulky pivot sets.

Mach Punch (and all other priority): Mach Punch was omitted to prevent having an auto-win button against Scarf Ton, as well as feeling a bit out of place and generally outclassed. The other priority moves are largely useless and would very likely not be seen a whole lot to begin with.

29 VGMs
59 total moves

DarkSlay · Oct 28, 2013

This thread is now officially CLOSED.

Here is your final slate:

Bull of Heaven
srk1214
jas61292
nyttyn
Pata Hikari
Korski
SoulMuse
P2X7
topher4167
Qwilphish
99_Problems

As you may notice, that's 11 movepools that were selected. As TLT of the Movepool process, I have interpreted my job as twofold: 1) to ensure that the project maintains its integrity and prevent anything from hindering that integrity, and 2) to make sure the guidelines and rules of CAP are followed when it comes to the procedural measures taken by submitters. I have come to the conclusion that all of the movepools submitted (the 11 there are, which in total is quite small in itself) have not only followed guidelines correctly and have put at least some sort of competitive and flavor thought into decisions, but also differentiate themselves enough to let the voters be the one to decide which movepool was the best as opposed to elimination for the sake of limiting quantity. I think all candidates that fill the correct guidelines, in our current position in CAP6, should have the opportunity to run.

The next, and last, step of the move stage is the movepool poll. We have all worked very hard to get up to this point, and so far I am very proud to be working with such great CAP members! It's been a slightly long journey, but we're almost there. Let's finish strong!

capefeather · Oct 29, 2013

Hi.

My main concern was that a lot of the submissions are so similar competitively that this would warp voting results in some way. In particular, I was looking at the Acrobatics + Drain Punch combination. In light of this, I found two submissions in particular liable to be axed. topher4167's submission has no explanation, but SoulMuse's submission is the one I'm taking out. It's a small thing, but the ambiguous identification of "Water" as one of the egg groups means that there may be more than one way to implement egg move illegalities. Even if there's no problem and there is a unique illegality combination, that's a considerable amount of work for other people to do to that really should have been made clear. So yeah, sorry about that :(

I believe this is the last time I get to make the last post in a process thread for CAP 6, and in many ways, it feels appropriate to finish with a peepee:

CAP 17 CAP 6 - Part 10 - Movepool Submissions

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Guess who's back? Na na na! *breakdances*

Bull of Heaven

Guest

Like ships in the night, you're passing me by

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From Now On, We'll...

Distilled, 80 proof

Guess who's back? Na na na! *breakdances*

Like ships in the night, you're passing me by

Guess who's back? Na na na! *breakdances*

Like ships in the night, you're passing me by

when everything you touch turns to gold

lurks in the shadows

Like ships in the night, you're passing me by

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Guess who's back? Na na na! *breakdances*

toot

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Guess who's back? Na na na! breakdances

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