CAP 9 CAP 9 - Concept Submissions

[Ferdie]

Name - One Hit Wonder

Description - Very strong pokemon, which is good in only one thing. Ex. Choice Bander, Calm Minder, Cleric etc. It would have stats and trait for just the one purpose.

Justification - The idea is create pokemon which is dominant on its division. Let's say we would create perfect Choice Bander. It would have the right typing, the right attacks and the right stats, but it would suck in every other aspect so the only way to use it would be Choice Bander.

Questions To Be Answered -
- What kind of one hit wonder this pokemon should be?
- What would be the props to use this pokemon?
- Would this pokemon be overhelming and would it "kill" every other this kind of pokemon usage?

Explanation - I like the idea of pokemon who is superior in one role. It would be really powerful but on the other hand it would be unsurprising because we would always know what set it uses. It would have a very abysmal movepool.

I give you an example. Let's say we decide to make this a perfect Choice Bander. He would always use the same set. In Properly played it would be dangerous but his counter would be known very well.

I hope that you like my idea. And I'm sorry for my medicore english. It isn't my first language.

 

[Chomz]

Name: Sub-buster

Description:
A Pokemon that easily switches in to and destroys Substitute users.

Justification:
Substitute is easily one of the most versatile moves in the metagame. There are Pokemon which use a Substitute protection to Calm Mind or Bulk Up to invulnerability, while there are those that use it to avoid status effects or unexpected critical hits which might ruin a sweep. A Pokemon capable of stopping such strategies would add another element of prediction to battles by removing the Substitute safety net. Creating one would also allow us to better understand and analyze the large number of uses of Substitute and thus better understand its effect on the metagame.

Questions to be answered:
1. Which strategies fall apart without the protection of Substitute?
2. How much more viable would status effects become when they are no longer hindered by Substitutes?
3. Can fragile Substitute abusers still retain their usefulness?
4. Are there Pokemon which would greatly suffer as a result to losing the ability to boost indiscriminately?
5. Can the large variety of Substitute strategies be easily countered by a single Pokemon?

Explanation:
Substitute is one of the favourite toys of stall teams. High speed, fragile Substitute abusers like Jumpluff become extremely annoying when the ability to OHKO them is removed, while already bulky-types like Arghonaut and Suicune can render themselves all but impervious to damage by boosting their defenses behind increasingly-impenetrable subs. Sweepers also enjoy the availability of Substitute, using it to launch risk-free Focus Punches and avoid those irritating status effects. By introducing a Pokemon which nullifies the protection afforded by Substitute, the metagame would easily become faster, fresher and more exciting.

There are actually several Pokemon around which could fulfill such a role if it wasn't for their dismal stats or movepools. Cloyster would be an example if it uses Skill Link and Icicle Spear, but its poor stats prevent it from being viable in OU. Many other Pokemon possess multi-hit moves, which are, unfortunately, unused due to their poor base power. However, multi-hit moves are but one possible method; there could possibly be other ways of overcoming Substituters which haven't yet been thought of. In summary, a Pokemon built on this concept would be one that can reliably perform its task of defeating common users of Substitute, then continuing to manifest its usefulness in other ways.

 

[Afti]

Name: Ultimate Stat-Booster
General Description: A Pokemon that is unspectacular in itself, but has the stats and movepool to become a potent threat after using any of a wide variety of stat-boosting moves.
Justification: Most Pokemon that rely on stat boosts to sweep or wall can only make effective use of one, or maybe two different stat-boosting moves. By contrast, this Pokemon would be able to utilize many stat-boosting moves equally well, allowing the biases toward physical/special and offensive/defensive in the metagame to become far more clear, as the set used would be entirely dependent on the game surrounding it.
Questions to be Answered:

- In what degree is the metagame biased to Physical or Special-using Pokemon, if at all?

- In what degree is the metagame biased to offensive or defensive play, if at all?

- What is, on a Pokemon with universally capable, if not exceptional, stats the most effective way to boost a given stat? For example, which is, on a Pokemon that benefits equally from both Attack and Speed raises, better- Swords Dance or Dragon Dance?

Explanation: Finally, a Pokemon that could use any stat boost effectively would be fun to play with. It would be capable of surprising opponents with attacks or items traditionally representing one build being used on another, or even a less-used stat boost. If, for example, Defense-boosting became prevalent, and the common check became a Special attacker, a Calm Mind set could be used very well to lure out certain Pokemon which wouldn't be too threatening to this build, set up, and sweep. As far as abilities go, two are obvious- Suction Cups would prevent the chance of Roar/Whirlwind ruining your fun, while Clear Body prevents the more direct approach to stat reduction. A Psychic/Steel typing would work well, providing reasonable access to a great variety of stat-boosting moves, including Swords Dance, Iron Defense, Nasty Plot, Amnesia, and Agility- the "big five", as one might call them. Visually, this type would allow for many options, but I personally feel that it would be suited by a Pokemon with fairly lightweight-looking metal armor, to allow it to appear capable of taking hits without being particularly slow or weak. All kinds of psychic effects are possible- for example, purple sparks, or glowing gem(s).

 

[monkymeet]

Name: Low Power Move Abuser

General Description: Low power moves can sometimes have nice secondary effects, whether it is priority, as seen in Bullet Punch and Ice Shard, lowering opponent's speed, such as Icy Wind and Mud Shot, berry manipulation, for Pluck and Bug Bite, or other different effects. This pokemon would focus on utilizing these more unique moves that are often overlooked due to their lower base power.

Justification: Low power moves tend to have more interesting effects, but their lower power tends to leave them in general disuse. Do their various unique effects lend themselves to actually be useful, or are they by default already useless from the start?

Questions to be Answered:

• Are many of these secondary effects completely useless?
• Would they be viable and would a rise in their use result in a shift in the metagame?
• Would these special secondary effects be overpowering if they could deal similar damage to the usual competitive moves?

Explanation: I've always wondered about the lesser used moves, especially those that lowered speed such as Icy Wind and Rock Tomb. Especially with speed being so important, or even bulk (which can be addressed by defense lowering moves, such as Crush Claw and Rock Smash), would these moves with lower power but more influential secondary effects be viable? Typing can really be anything, but Normal types rarely come up in discussions, and they tend to have large movepools with many types. A large BST could also offset the fact that it might lack the typical competitive moves, forcing it to apply the weaker relatives of the moves we know so dearly. Interesting moves I feel could use a second look are: Multi-hitting moves (destroying subs), speed lowering moves, defense lowering moves, berry eaters, accuracy lowerers, trapping moves, leeching moves.

 

[el_B]

Concept: Hazard Punisher

Description: A Pokémon, which is quite average normally, but punishes entry hazards.

Justification: Entry Hazards, especially Stealth Rock play a huge role in our metagame and battles oftentimes go as far as resolving around setting up Rocks in the very first two turns. Stealth Rock is oftentimes already assumed in damage calculations, as it'd be a constant factor during battling.
Usually using hazards (But especially Stealth Rock) comes with no or low cost at your side, but the benefits far outweigh the one turn set-up.
What if there was a Pokémon, which does somehow benefit from the enemy setting up these hazards, i.e. punishes the enemy for using this move?

Questions To Be Answered:

* Will Stealth Rock still be a nearly omni-present factor in battles, if there was a risk to using it?
* Will punishing Stealth Rock deter the first-turn-SR-mentality and promote more reliable users of SR later on in the match?
* Will (other?) entry hazards become useless, if there is a risk involved?
* How will Pokémon fare which are currently held back by entry hazards? (i.e. powerhouses like Salamence, Gyarados, Zapdos, but also currently more less-used ones)
* Which play types will become dominant if hazards did have a risk-factor to them?

Explanation: We all know how often SR and other hazards are present in our metagame and especially Stealth Rock is more often than not assumed to be in play. If there was a way to punish entry hazards (I'm not talking about removing ala rapid spin), would these moves still be overused as much? I know that Stealth Rock is mentioned the most in this concept, but alas, it's the most prominent and probably most game-changing hazard out of the three. The Pokémon could punish hazards in multiple possible ways (i.e. healing upon switching in instead of being damaged; throwing back the damage it was supposed to take; getting an attack boost if hazards are in play; using a move which gains increased power if hazards are in play; etc.). Whatever the punishment may be, it should be enough to make players ask themselves "should I set up the hazard or not?", while not rendering them completely useless.

----------------

this concept differentiates itself from moi's and Deck Knight's, since it doesn't necessarily revolve about removing the hazards. I hope it is not too restrictive.

 

[Dogfish44]

Name: Bulky Priority User

General Description: A pokemon that can take a hit, and use priority effectively.

Justification: This lets us see how the metagame can react to a bulkier Priority User. If it is very bulky, chances are it will be relatively weak in attack, unlike others it could be compared with. If it outspeeds other priority users, we could see a slight drop in there usage.

Questions to be Answered:

• Do some pokemon rely on priority to outspeed others? And how will this affect usage?
• Do you need ppower to use priority effectively?
• Can bulk be used to stop this pokemon from being just another Revenge killer?

Explanation:

Scizor and Mamoswine are both fairly prominent with priority, and might be comparable to CAP 9. The key diffence would have to be how the moves can be used. Both are strong attackers, but also bulky. Both can be used as either attacker or revenge killer, whereas I hope CAP9 will be perhaps weaker, but more versatile in use.
Coronis' is similar to this, but mine is the more defensive option.

 

[Wombat Sky Forme]

I was going to do something almost exactly the same as Ferdie, but... Anyways, here's my entry.

Name: Pure Power Fighter

Description: A Pokemon that can only rely on sheer power to win battle, but uses these high BP moves effectively thanks to coverage and good attacking stats.

Justification: Moves with high BP are overlooked a lot because of other negative effects they have, such as horrible accuracy. But what if there was a Pokemon designed and pruned to use only moves with high BP?
How would walls need to change to be able to take hits from the Pokemon?

Questions to be Answered:

• Would a Pokemon specifically designed for high BP moves become the next great stall breaker?
• Which would benefit the Pokemon's role more: an accuracy raising ability, an attack/special attack raising ability, or an ability that could negate the effects or some high BP moves (e.g. no recharge)?
• If the Pokemon countered stall teams well, would Pokemon such as MixMence and MixApe go down in usage, significantly altering the metagame, or would they remain for other purposes?
• If the Pokemon was successfull, how much would the metagame have to shift to become able to counter the Pokemon?

• With respect to the above question, would Pokemon start using virtually never used strategies that might be more useful if the Pokemon was released into the metagame?

Explanation: I've noticed a lot of my friends who know squat about competitive battling (i.e. EV's, IV's, coverage) tend to use moves such as Hyper Beam and Aeroblast, regardless of the consequences. I also know that most competitive battlers tend to play a bit more conservatively. Sure, we have Stone Edge and Draco Meteor, but who hasn't been swept by DD Salamence because Tyranitar missed with Stone Edge? Anyway, I decided to teach one of my friends the ropes of competitive battling. Once it finally clicked, I noticed a change in his teams. Sure, he was using powerful moves, but not to a fault. He knew when they worked and when they didn't. However, after watching my friends battle, I wondered, "what would happen if the entire metagame was using high powered moves?" And that was the start of this Pokemon.


Yeah, I know, sorta long, sorry, I hope there's nothing wrong with this.


EDIT: Lol, two people submitted entries from when I started typing to when I finished.

EDIT2: Are my questions centralized around my CAP concept too much and not enough around the metagame?

 

[X-Act]

• Name - Critical Hit Abuser
• Description - A Pokemon that critically hits extremely often.
• Justification - A Pokemon that abuses Critical Hits would be interesting in the process of learning more about the metagame. It also helps in breaking Stall, as Critical Hits don't care about neither defensive stat-ups nor Reflect/Light Screen.
• Questions To Be Answered
  Would Stall teams be less effective if such a Pokemon existed?
  What about other teams that don't abuse Stall? Would they be affected as well?
  Would Critical Hits in general get a less harsh reputation after this Pokemon is created?
• Explanation - Ideally, this Pokemon would hit for a Critical Hit always, or almost always. To compensate for this, it would have moves that don't have very good Base Power, and/or its offensive stats would be average at best. It would also not have moves that boost its offensive stats. The idea of this Pokemon is just to create a Pokemon that doesn't care about defensive stat-ups, Intimidate, and screens, to aid against stall.

 

[zarator]

• Name - Critical Hit Abuser
• Description - A Pokemon that critically hits extremely often.
• Justification - A Pokemon that abuses Critical Hits would be interesting in the process of learning more about the metagame. It also helps in breaking Stall, as Critical Hits don't care about neither defensive stat-ups nor Reflect/Light Screen.
• Questions To Be Answered
  Would Stall teams be less effective if such a Pokemon existed?
  What about other teams that don't abuse Stall? Would they be affected as well?
  Would Critical Hits in general get a less harsh reputation after this Pokemon is created?
• Explanation - Ideally, this Pokemon would hit for a Critical Hit always, or almost always. To compensate for this, it would have moves that don't have very good Base Power, and/or its offensive stats would be average at best. It would also not have moves that boost its offensive stats. The idea of this Pokemon is just to create a Pokemon that doesn't care about defensive stat-ups, Intimidate, and screens, to aid against stall.

How do you hope to accomplish such a concept without either
1) giving this Pokémon Super Luck
2) Giving this Pokémon Sniper
3) Giving this Pokémon a custom ability similar to either Super Luck or Sniper
4) Giving this Pokémon a custom move with a very high critical rate (not just like Night Slash or Psycho Cut)

I just think that we would either doing a too restrictive CAP (at least ability wise) or an OU version of Honchkrow or Absol...

 

[Dummy007]

Name: Forger

Description: A Pokemon capable of using moves exclusive to one or very few Pokemon and that has the stats to use them decently.

Justification: Many moves have lots of potential for use in the current metagame. However, the Pokemon that learn these moves usually either: 1) have a plethora of common weaknesses (Head Smash); 2) are Uber (Spacial Rend); 3) forgo the move in favor of other moves (Conversion), or; 4) have poor stats (Hyper Voice). A pokemon capable of using these moves well could bring some diversity to the metagame.

Questions to be Answered:

-Is a Pokemon like this viable?
-How would a Pokemon capable of learning several signature moves impact the metagame?
-Which signature moves would become the most popular?
-Would any lesser-used Pokemon see increases in usage because of this Pokemon?

Explanation:
This idea could go in either an offensive or defensive direction. An offensive Pokemon could learn moves like Head Smash, Tail Glow, Aura Sphere (only learned by two Pokemon outside of Ubers), Zap Cannon (maybe), or maybe even Judgment (not likely, but fun to think about).
Defensive Pokemon could have Conversion2, Zap Cannon (once again, maybe), Softboiled, Spore, or Safeguard.

A very selective ability could be used. Magic Guard, Wonder Guard, No Guard, Arena Trap, Shadow Tag, and Normalize are all exclusive to one fully-evolved Pokemon. Magnet Pull could be used, or maybe Poison Heal. A common ability could be used as well; it doesn't matter too much whether it fits the theme or not.

 

[The Other Doug]

I rewrote my Justification.

Justification: Baton Pass teams are very rare in OU/CAP. There are a variety of both non-offensive boosts (e.g. Iron Denfense, Cosmic Power) and useful effects (e.g. Magnet Rise, Ingrain) that can be baton passed by common OU pokemon such as Scizor, Vaporeon, Gliscor or Jolteon but, for some reason, are ignored in favor of Substitute or offensive stat boosts. (i.e. Swords Dance, Agility/Rock Polish, Nasty Plot.)

 

[Plus]

Everyone, please try to make varied concepts that do not sound or look similar to other existing ones. For example, "Baton Passer" and "Bulky Baton Passer" are similar, but not exactly the same due to the specifics of "bulky" in the baton pass concept. The thing is, it's not what I'm looking for either -- I'd like things to be as general as possible, so I would choose Baton Passer over Bulky Baton Passer in this case.

While this is only an example, I'd just like to point out a couple of things:

• Be creative. If you can't be creative, don't be tempted to post.
  If your concept sounds similar to another concept, do not post it, or edit it so that it is significantly different.

• When making a concept, ask yourself a couple questions. Do we have this concept in the current metagame? Is it something I would like to learn about? Is it something we can all interpret and discuss?

• You don't need a concept to contribute to this thread. You can analyze concepts, voice your opinions on others, and help improve concepts by giving feedback. You'd be surprised how much they can get better.

Apart from that, keep it up! I am satisfied with the activity and effort put into this thread.

 

[Elegy]

Name: Your Superhero

Descrption: A Pokemon that is adept at withstanding a multitude of attacks for the sole purpose of protecting another Pokemon, but maybe not quite capable of doing much else.

Justification: A very common circumstance in a Pokemon battle is not having your Counter alive when you need it, or the situation of your sweeper about to get outsped and OHKOed. The idea behind a bulwark Pokemon could be expanded upon greatly, with many crude combinations with frail Pokemon.

Questions to be Answered:
-Can a pure attack-absorber really keep other Pokemon alive?
-Can a pure attack-absorber work well in tandem with another Pokemon?
-What effect would it have against Offensive teams?
-How much is too much Defense?
-Would it be accepted as an alternative to other defensive Pokemon?
-What is the ideal mix of Defense and Support for a wall?

Explanation: Not exactly Physical Blissey. Not exactly a Dignified Dusknoir. This Pokemon would be absolutely astounding at taking many dangerous attacks without breaking in one hit, and could possibly save a key Pokemon for later. The catch of having a pseudo-immortal Pokemon would be A) Little to no support options, and B) If it stayed in too long, it would let your opponent set-up. I'd imagine the typing, and stats to be absolutely insane for such a Pokemon, but its not impossible. This Pokemon is meant to be a bulwark, support beam, your superhero that takes a bullet for you.
In essence, its a wall. But not an ordinary wall, one with the right resistance coverage or defense to take a hit for another Pokemon that would typically be annihilated by a certain attack. Like you want to save your Tyranitar from Scizor's BP? Your Superhero will take "the bullet" for you. Or maybe you need your Lucario, but you can't leave it in against Gliscor's EQ so leave it to this Pokemon to handle the brunt of the attack. After he's in, well maybe it could wall, could Roar, could perform a little other support too. Just not enough to make it completely Immortal. When it comes to it, you'll find out you'll need a Pokemon like this to save your butt against destructive attacks.

 

[Dream_Team]

I'm a total noob, (hell, I have a sun-reliant Sweeper Rosalind in-game with S.Beam, W.Ball, Sun, and synthesis. Yes, Synthesis on a sweeper.) and I understand if my suggestions show my ignorance or are just plain crappy, but I wanna pitch in. I'd also appreciate feedback

Name: One Stop Set Up -- No Assistance Required

Description: A pokemon that, when used right, can set up for itself without the assisstance of other pokemon to Sweep or Wall.

Justification: Almost all sweepers need another pokemon to start sweeping, like Kingdra needing someone to set up rain, for example. This pokemon would need no such assistance, setting up all for itself. It doesn't have to be a sweeper, but can be a tank or wall, possibly having both Ingrain to resist Roar and, say, Dual Screens. It doesn't need to have the stats or ability to be able to survive the set up completely unscathed, but once it has set up, it's an unstoppable force.

Questions to be Answered:

• When a pokemon that can set up for itself arrives on-scene, does that render predictions obsolete, as the only thing for it to do is set up, or does it encourage it?
• Does the existence of such a pokemon render combo-based counters obsolete, or encourage it?

(I realize that these questions are kind of sloppy, as I didn't have very concrete ones in mind while making this.)

Explanation: I was once trolled into the existance of a "Triple Trick Shuckle." The strategy was to use Trick Room (Trick #1), Trickscarf to force a switch(Trick#2), then, on the switch, use Power Trick (Trick #3). This would enable Shuckle to not only set up for itself with relative safety, as it has the highest defensive stats of all pokemon, but sweep very well for at least four turns once it's set up. Of course that means it only has one attack move in its arsenal, namely Gyro Ball, but with almost unopposed speed in TR, high as hell Atk stat, and a hellishly low speed stat to complement Gyro Ball, it doesn't really matter much.

The first thing you would notice is that while in the process of setting up, there are gaping holes that could cost Shuckle. Scizor's 90 BP Bullet Punch can probably take Shuckle down even in TR. This is what I wanted to emphasize: this pokemon is bound to have a lot of counters. That means that whole teams could revolve around this one pokemon. The other five could be there solely to cover its counters so that it can set up properly to wall or sweep.

=====================

Again, I'd appreciate feedback so I can learn from any mistakes I made there.

 

[Plus]

1 Stop set up

Justification: Almost all sweepers need another pokemon to start sweeping, like Kingdra needing someone to set up rain, for example. This pokemon would need no such assistance, setting up all for itself. It doesn't have to be a sweeper, but can be a tank or wall, possibly having both Ingrain to resist Roar and, say, Dual Screens. It doesn't need to have the stats or ability to be able to survive the set up completely unscathed, but once it has set up, it's an unstoppable force.

So it's a pokemon that can set up, basically? Dragon Dance Salamence, Swords Dance Lucario, Swords Dance Scizor, Dragon Dance Gyarados are a couple examples of those. What makes yours different, exactly? Sweepers don't need support to do well, they simply have to beat the opposing team with sheer force.

Explanation: I was once trolled into the existance of a "Triple Trick Shuckle." The strategy was to use Trick Room (Trick #1), Trickscarf to force a switch(Trick#2), then, on the switch, use Power Trick (Trick #3). This would enable Shuckle to not only set up for itself with relative safety, as it has the highest defensive stats of all pokemon, but sweep very well for at least four turns once it's set up. Of course that means it only has one attack move in its arsenal, namely Gyro Ball, but with almost unopposed speed in TR, high as hell Atk stat, and a hellishly low speed stat to complement Gyro Ball, it doesn't really matter much.

The first thing you would notice is that while in the process of setting up, there are gaping holes that could cost Shuckle. Scizor's 90 BP Bullet Punch can probably take Shuckle down even in TR. This is what I wanted to emphasize: this pokemon is bound to have a lot of counters. That means that whole teams could revolve around this one pokemon. The other five could be there solely to cover its counters so that it can set up properly to wall or sweep.

A team does not "require" counters to different pokemon. You simply need to check opposing threats. If you had a counter for every pokemon in the metagame you'd end up with more than 6 pokemon on a team. Anyways, could you be a bit more clear as to how your explanation ties into your description and justification?

Your Superhero

So it's a wall, I guess? I'm curious as to what it is exactly because you didn't really mention the word wall, so I'm assuming it's something different. However, from your submission, all I'm getting from it is a wall with good synergy with another pokemon. Could you clarify a bit?

 

[Zari]

This is a partner project between me and Fuzznip

------
Name: Status Counter.

Description: A Pokemon that benefits from status, rather than being crippled by it.

Justification: With many teams commonly carrying status-inducing moves, there is no true Pokemon that can directly benefit from them upon switching into them. Sweepers are crippled by Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp, and walls and tanks can be neutralized with Toxic. This concept revolves around building a Pokemon that would truly benefit from status, rather than being a designated Pokemon that absorbs status for the team. This concept would show us what status really is in the metagame, because it's not only seen as a way to cripple the opponent's team, it can potentially help the opponent's team.

Questions to be Answered:

• How will this concept effect teams that sometimes rely on status (such as stall teams)?
• What does status truly do in the metagame?
• What strategies become viable from the rarity of status?
• Will status become a "bad" thing to use with the inclusion of Pokemon that can benefit from it?

Explanation: Currently the Pokemon in existence that benefit from status are unreliable (see Ursaring, Dodrio, and to a certain extent, Heracross). This concept wouldn't be limited by anything as well, since the stat spread could be virtually anything (defensive/offensive/balanced). It doesn't necessarily always have to be offensive, which most status abusers are. We already have a host of abilities to choose from, each with a different playstyle; from Guts to Synchronize to Quick Feet; and having a couple of moves to abuse, like Facade and Psycho Shift. The typing could be anything really, but preferably it would not carry immunities to the common status moves, as that would be counter-productive.

 

[Blue_Tornado]

Plus, you've skipped quite a lot of other concepts. Are you handpicking some of them or going through them all?

 

[Plus]

Plus, you've skipped quite a lot of other concepts. Are you handpicking some of them or going through them all?

I'm just going over the ones that I either a) am interested about or b) need a bit more description.

Zari, Fuzznip already has a concept. Talk to him about whether he is going to delete his concept, or if he's going to support you on yours.

 

[keelhauled]

Name: Tank
General Description: A tank capable of taking hits from both ends of the spectrum, and being able to work on the offense too.

Justification: The OU metagame has very few viable tanks, most are limited to one offensive stat, and mediocre defensive stats (Snorlax's Physical Defence, Gliscor's Special Defence), or a horrible weakness (Swampert - Grass) what I feel the metagame needs is a somewhat balanced tank, who has plenty of resistances, and has the ability to attack, without much hindrance. This idea may seem broken, but it would definitely be possible to balance out such a pokemon, such as lowering some stats, and possibly creating it as more of a niche pokemon, set to capitalise on threats such as Gyarados or Salamence.

Questions to be Answered:
How can stat distribution be worked to the greatest benefit of "Tank", without being overpowered, or below average?
How can one counter a threat that it suited to wall both damage spectrums, and hit out with power?
What roles would it be able to fulfil? eg. Support, Defense, Offense.
Would it be useful to incorporate an ability that would balance out the set, or further its goal?
Will it ever be as effective as the other common tanks, or be able to rise above mediocracy?

Explanation:
With Bulky Offense on an all time high, what is better to utilize than something capable of working alongside it, or against it, being able to feature in a range of teams, such as stall, or offense. As "Tank" is being included in the same breath as pokemon such as Swampert, and Snorlax, it may be an idea to make "Tank" a large pokemon, as that is the general stereotype people share with bulky pokemon.
To be able to function as a tank, it would need to be free from detrimental typing, or limiting movepools, which holds back certain pokemon' from being used, such as Rhyperior.

 

[Elegy]

Your Superhero

So it's a wall, I guess? I'm curious as to what it is exactly because you didn't really mention the word wall, so I'm assuming it's something different. However, from your submission, all I'm getting from it is a wall with good synergy with another pokemon. Could you clarify a bit?

I can certainly explain a bit more...

Well what I meant was for it to be a wall, but an absolute wall for your emergency switching needs. It obviously would not carry powerful attacks nor many supporting moves. Like you want to save your Tyranitar from Scizor's BP? Your Superhero will take "the bullet" for you. Or maybe you need your Lucario, but you can't leave it in against Gliscor's EQ so leave it to this Pokemon to handle the brunt of the attack. After he's in, well maybe it could wall, could Roar, could perform a little other support too. Just not enough to make it completely Immortal.
Edited my post to include this.

 

[latinoheat]

Name: Low Power Move Abuser

General Description: Low power moves can sometimes have nice secondary effects, whether it is priority, as seen in Bullet Punch and Ice Shard, lowering opponent's speed, such as Icy Wind and Mud Shot, berry manipulation, for Pluck and Bug Bite, or other different effects. This pokemon would focus on utilizing these more unique moves that are often overlooked due to their lower base power.

Justification: Low power moves tend to have more interesting effects, but their lower power tends to leave them in general disuse. Do their various unique effects lend themselves to actually be useful, or are they by default already useless from the start?

Questions to be Answered:

• Are many of these secondary effects completely useless?
• Would they be viable and would a rise in their use result in a shift in the metagame?

Explanation: I've always wondered about the lesser used moves, especially those that lowered speed such as Icy Wind and Rock Tomb. Especially with speed being so important, or even bulk (which can be addressed by defense lowering moves, such as Crush Claw and Rock Smash), would these moves with lower power but more influential secondary effects be viable? Typing can really be anything, but Normal types rarely come up in discussions, and they tend to have large movepools with many types.

Don't atleast half the current OU metagame get these type of moves and could make use of them yet still choose not to. Doesn't this kinda already prove they are not really viable

 

[Buffalo_Wings]

Name: Disabled

General Description: A pokemon that can temporarily or permanently eliminate one of the opposing pokemon's moves by ability or an updated version of the move "disable".

Justification: Disable is rarely (if ever) used in competitive battling, and I think it would be quite interesting to see how it affects things. It could show how much certain pokemon rely on one move, or how many new counters there are to the disabled pokemon with one key move out of the picture.

Questions to be Answered:
-How much do certain pokemon rely on one move?
-Are certain pokemon more viable if a particular move was removed from the game?
-Would stall be as viable if key pokemon couldn't use their recovery/hazard moves when needed?
-Would offensive pokemon still be effective enough if they carried 2 similar moves to bypass disable?

Explanation: The disabling could be achieved through an ability that would be something like an auto-disable, or a new move which would act similarly to disable but would be tweaked to make it viable (example: disables moves that are about to be used and so could stop a stealth rock lead.) The move could possibly just cut the opponents PP by a certain amount too.The disabling could be used both defensively (disable a powerful attack) or offensively (disable hazards or recovery). The pokemon could be any type, and its stat bias could go in several directions.

P.S. This is probably a horrible concept since I know fuck all about battling, but I just wanted to contribute.

 

[Xyphang]

Forgive me if this is confusing/repeating the same thing, I'm really tired.

Name: Super Lure
Description: A Pokemon that can lure in and kill threats to your team, but, with a different set, function well.

Justification: Lures are a very under-used part of the metagame, a tactic that many people aren’t aware of. Also, the best teams generally do not utilize lures at all, preferring the option of a team-mate that can play an extremely active part. Therefore, this concept would aim to find out what about lures makes it so unappealing to players, and what can make it better.

Questions to be Answered:
• Are lures viable in today’s metagame?
• What strategies are most effective for luring in a Pokemon?
• Which Pokemon(s) benefit most from having a lure on your team?
• How does a Pokemon’s reputation as a viable lure affect its counters?
• How much power in a different set does it take to be an effective lure?

Explanation: The idea for a lure is quite nifty: identify two Pokemon walled by the same thing(s), find a general, common weakness between those, and to set up a sweep, surprise the opponent with a SE attack, destroying a counter for your sweeper. This can be extremely useful to teams, but one cannot know how useful it is. Also, lures add another layer of thinking- deciding whether that Pokemon is a threat, or a lure.
In terms of the actual Pokemon itself, general requirements should be:
For lures to be effective, they must also have a viable set to use, or else the lure is not viable because it can’t do its job correctly. Therefore, the lure should probably be a capable sweeper/choice user, but additionally have an okay movepool/stats on the other side of the spectrum to be useful. The other option is to make it a capable wall with small offensive capabilities, giving a surprise to the opponent, taking out a wall-breaker (though lack of leftover recovery might give it away). In terms of bias, it could go anywhere. Offensively, the pokemon could also work, and it could function at either end of the spectrum. The options are extremely open, and this doesn't require a specific ability to work.

 

[Nik S D]

Well, here's my first ever CAP concept.

Concept: Hax-Abuser

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Description: A Pokémon with decent stats that abuses moves with secondary effects to change the course of the battle.

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Justification: In many cases, hax can make-or-break the battle. We have all probably lost a battle that we seemed poised to win because our opponents got lucky. Well, what would happen if there was a Pokémon whose sole purpose is to provide hax? A Pokémon who can consistently score hax on the opponent would be, in my opinion, a welcome addition to the metagame.

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Questions To Be Answered:​

• Is the sheer power of hax enough to win the battle?

• How much does luck really affect a battle?

• Will hax balance out disabilities such as mediocre movepools or under-average stats?

• Will the hax-abuser by a viable choice even if hax does not play any part in the battle?

Explanation: How big of a threat do YOU think a Pokémon whose Thunder always paralyzed would be? Whose Hypnosis never missed? Who made a critical hit so often that the only message really necessary would be: It’s NOT a critical hit! WTF? Obviously, this Pokémon seems freakishly broken at first glance. As such, I think this should be balanced out in things like its movepool and stats. I think this could be a very good concept for debate and discussion throughout CAP 9.


May the best concept win!
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[Staraptor Call]

Tank: Doesn't Suicune already fill this role in OU? It can take hits from both sides of the spectrum, set up something useful, and survive for a long time using its relative lack of weaknesses. What would keep CAP9 from becoming another Suicune?

Hax-Abuser: OU already has two very useful Serene Grace Pokemon in Jirachi and Togekiss, so hax abusers already exist in the OU metagame and are in fact a large part of the metagame. OU doesn't need another.