Offensive Playstyles in CAP

By Airwind and Mx. Released: 2018/07/28.
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mollux

Art by LifeisDANK.

The CAP metagame is where you can play with the Pokémon built by the Create-A-Pokémon's community alongside regular Pokémon, adhering to the OU banlist. The new additions shape the way this meta plays very significantly; for example, setup sweepers have significantly lowered usage, as Prankster + Haze Tomohawk and Unaware Arghonaut are some of the best CAP walls. Some of the CAPs also pose serious threats to unprepared team, with Pokémon like Mega Crucibelle, Volkraken, and Cawmodore being able to steamroll anyone who forgets to pack an appropiate answer, as most of them can break through standard OU defensive cores. Of course, all of this influences the playstyles that dominate, with some gaining new toys that make them even more deadly, while some can't keep up with the rest of the meta. In this article we'll be exploring these different offensive archetypes and how they perform in the current meta, more specifically offense because it is the most easy to learn, viable, and used, with offensive playstyles that aren't common in OU like Trick Room being viable in CAP.

Even after the arrival of the last CAP, Jumbao, rain is still a force to be reckoned with in the CAP metagame. With good setters in Pelipper and Tomohawk, Swift Swim users such as Mega Swampert, Kingdra, and other attackers like Volkraken and Ash-Greninja, this archetype is incredibly difficult to deal with for offensive and defensive teams alike. At the same time, rain also helps Pokémon weak to Fire like Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, allowing them to tank weak Hidden Power Fires from the likes of Tapu Lele, Krilowatt, and Mega Diancie, which makes them even harder to break.

Tomohawk

Tomohawk is the most important addition to rain teams, serving as a fantastic secondary setter alongside Pelipper due its amazing ability Prankster, which guarantees that as long as it is healthy, it should always be able to set up Rain Dance at least once. Thanks to its decent bulk, an easily spammable STAB attack in Hurricane, and a fantastic movepool with options like Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Haze, Healing Wish, and Nature Power, Tomohawk is able to hit hard while always providing invaluable role compression for its team. Most notably, Healing Wish lets you fully heal one teammate in exchange for Tomohawk, which means that after Tomohawk has done its job, it can bring back a dangerous threat like Mega Swampert or Volkraken to full health, potentially allowing them to sweep late-game.

Volkraken

Volkraken is another formidable addition to rain teams. While it struggles to compete with Ash-Greninja, which possesses a much better Speed tier and access to priority with Water Shuriken, it's still able to differentiate itself from it thanks to a secondary STAB attack capable of making quick work of Ferrothorn, and much more immediate power. Thanks to Analytic, there are very few switch-ins to a boosted Hydro Pump—even Toxapex and Chansey are usually 2HKOed by it on the switch—and with the coverage provided by Power Gem and Hidden Power Grass, Volkraken is always able to nail Water-immune foes like Volcanion, Mantine, Gastrodon, and Mollux, meaning that there is literally no safe switch-in against it; and if they are, Volkraken can always U-turn out to keep momentum. One of the problems of this set is that once it gets Choice locked, it is easy to lose versus a Swift Swim user or Kingdra, so you have to watch out for that or use U-turn to help Volkraken pivoting and switch out for Mollux or Tomohawk. For the last move, Volkraken has Hidden Power Electric, which makes it even easier to deal with bulky Flying-type Pokémon when it uses U-turn instead of Power Gem, making Volkraken an extremely powerful monster without a counter.

Mollux

Mollux is another great addition to rain because it can take on Grass-, Fire-, and Water-types thanks to the unique combination of its Fire / Poison typing alongside Dry Skin, which not only provides passive recovery under rain but also turns what would be a weakness to Water into an immunity. Offensively, Lava Plume deals heavy damage to Ferrothorn, one of the biggest threats to rain, and Sludge Bomb can KO Fairy-types like Tapu Bulu easily. This makes Mollux a really good partner for Mega Swampert and Kingdra because it resists the type weakness of both. Mollux also has Recover to stick around more and Thunder to hit Flying-types that are used in rain like Pelipper, Tomohawk, and Tornadus-T, which can be hard to deal with for Swampert. Rapid Spin makes a Mollux a good hazard remover that can recover the damage lost in a couple of turns, and Stealth Rock can be set up if your opponent decides to stay in with a Grass-type Pokémon. That's why Mollux is important: it is a support Pokémon that can benefit well from rain.

Common Teammates

Of course, no rain team can be made without Pelipper, which serves as the main setter, thanks to its ability to summon rain by just switching in with Drizzle while serving as a pivot with U-turn. Other common OU Pokémon like Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra are still great additions to any rain team. Unfortunately, CAP introduces lot of mons able to check them, as Tomohawk can take any attack from Mega Swampert and greatly support Specs Pelipper because it can take more hits and set the rain easily, while Pelipper can hit hard with Hurricane, Hydro Pump, or Ice Beam; furthermore, Arghonaut and Mollux can check the special attackers, making them arguably less effective here than in OU. Despite this, common teammates such as Z-Wild Charge Tapu Koko can heavily pressure their checks, making them still very deadly. Finally, Ferrothorn can make good use of the fact that rain halves the power from Fire-type moves, set up hazards, and serve as a good check to threats like Tapu Koko, Ash-Greninja, and Tapu Lele

The ability to outspeed almost the entire metagame while keeping your Pokémon slightly bulkier already makes Trick Room a decent choice in OU, with setters like Cresselia and Uxie being able to set it up at least once per game and letting strong attackers like Mega Mawile and Alolan Marowak run rampant for the duration of the effect. That being said, the strict five-turn limit to Trick Room, with no ability or item able to extend it, means that just one mistake could be fatal, because after the turns run out, it is really hard to gain momentum back without sacking one of your team members. In CAP, this playstyle gets a huge buff, thanks to Fidgit and its custom ability Persistent, which finally allows Trick Room to last for two more turns, making old attackers much more threatening, as these two turns give them some margin for error and make playing around the limited turns much more difficult for the opponent.

Fidgit

Fidgit is the most important member of a Trick Room team in CAP thanks to its signature ability Persistent, which allows it to set up the field effect for seven turns, making Trick Room a really scary playstyle and fixing the problem that Trick Room has by letting strong, slow sweepers like Alolan Marowak, Mega Mawile, and Mega Camerupt attack for more turns that usually they have. Fidgit's bulk is quite impressive, and with this spread, it is able to survive even most super effective attacks, such as Mega Medicham's Zen Headbutt and anything from Life Orb Syclant, which means that Fidgit can set up in front of them in a pinch; even Choice Band Zygarde can't OHKO. Fidgit also has access to an incredibly expansive support movepool, which provides its team with great role compression. Some of its best options include entry hazards like Stealth Rock, Spikes, and even Toxic Spikes, and if these are too hard to set up, access to Rapid Spin to act as hazard control for teammates like Alolan Marowak, which tends to be worn out by hazards rather easily. U-turn is yet another great choice, allowing Fidgit to pivot into the most appropriate teammate after setting up Trick Room. Other options include Taunt, which allows Fidgit to shut down more passive teams with ease, and Encore, which can prevent certain sweepers from setting up in front of Fidgit, although to fit them, Fidgit would probably need to drop its attacking move, which would leave it much more vulnerable to threats like Mega Crucibelle, Tapu Koko, and Mega Mawile.

Cyclohm

Cyclohm is a potential secondary Trick room setter, thanks to its ability to take on Volkraken, which is a huge threat to most Trick Room teams, thanks to its ability to destroy all setters and sweepers with the proper prediction thanks to its fantastic dual STAB combination, so having an Electric / Dragon typing to resist those hits, set Trick Room, and then pivot with Volt Switch to another attacker makes Cyclohm a great addition to a Trick Room team. With Shuca Berry, Cyclohm is able to set up Trick Room in front of even strong Ground-types like Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Colossoil before dealing massive damage with Ice Beam. In the last slot, Fire Blast is usually preferred, as it provides good coverage against Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Mega-Scizor; however, Hidden Power Grass is another option to serve as a lure to Water / Ground foes like Mega Swampert, Gastrodon, and Quagsire.

Common Teammates

Tapu Bulu is a staple on most CAP Trick Room teams. Despite its lack of a physical Fairy-type STAB attack, which puts it at a disadvantage against common walls like Tomohawk and Cyclohm, Grassy Surge helps to patch the weakness to Ground that almost all other Trick Room attackers share by weakening Earthquake from Landorus-T and Colossoil, and Tapu Bulu provides the team with a valuable check to Water-types like Ash-Greninja, Mega Swampert, and Kingdra. Access to Swords Dance allows it to serve as a decent late-game sweeper, once most of its answers are weakened enough, and Rockium Z can help it break through Pyroak.

Alolan Marowak does basically the same job as in OU, and thanks to its massive Attack stat, it is able to break through almost any wall; even the almighty Tomohawk usually loses one-on-one. Arghonaut is usually one of its best answers, as it can use Knock Off to remove the Thick Club and is not afraid of Swords Dance thanks to Unaware, but it still needs to be careful, as most sets will be 2HKOed by Shadow Bone on the switch.

Magearna is a decent secondary Trick Room setter thanks to its bulk, access to Volt Switch, and overall great coverage. However, when used alongside Fidgit and other attackers, it piles up even more Ground weaknesses on your team, so many teams choose for others setters.

Mega Mawile and Mega Camerupt are the most common choices for the Mega slot. The former is able to OHKO Cyclohm and Tomohawk, but it has a hard time breaking past Pyroak, one of the most common walls in the tier. The latter gives Trick Room teams a powerful special attacker, and it's able to deal with Steel-types and Toxapex much more easily. Arghonaut can usually counter it, though it must be careful with Nature Power variants, which are able to deal massive damage under Grassy Terrain.

VoltTurn was always used since the introduction of U-turn and Volt Switch, but not as much as now, because pivoting is one of the safest playstyles to use due to the ability to keep momentum and switch safely to a Pokémon that can hit back harder, set up Stealth Rock, or wall the foe. One of the differences between OU VoltTurn and CAP VoltTurn is how CAP VoltTurn can deal with hazards, which gives problems to any VoltTurn team, mostly because CAP has one Magic Guard + U-turn Pokémon in Mega Crucibelle and one Magic Guard + Volt Switch user in Krilowatt, both of which also have nice power with good coverage and speed. Another great CAP is Syclant thanks to the ability Mountaineer, which makes it immune to Stealth Rock, and similarly to Crucibelle, it has incredible power and speed.

Mega Cruci

Thanks to Magic Guard, Mega Crucibelle can pivot safely without caring about entry hazard damage, which makes it much harder to wear down. Its base forme also has Regenerator, which means that it if it loses health when switching into something early-game, you can easily regain it by holding off on Mega Evolving. Not only that, but with base 135 Attack, access to a recoil-less Head Smash, and Low Kick to take care of Ferrothorn, which resists all of Crucibelle's STAB moves, there are very few things capable of safely switching in. Even Tomohawk, the most common Pokémon in the meta, usually loses to Mega Crucibelle one-on-one, as it is 2HKOed by Gunk Shot if Mega Crucibelle manages to poison it. U-turn lets Mega Crucibelle pivot out of unfavorable matchups while doing some chip damage to its checks. Coil is another option, which allows Mega Crucibelle to act as a very threatening late-game sweeper once the opponent's checks have been weakened while also patching up the accuracy of Head Smash and Gunk Shot; it even allows Mega Crucibelle to brute force its way past some Rock-resistant threats, as Pokémon like Jirachi, Magnezone, and Magearna are 2HKOed after a boost. Lastly, Stealth Rock can be used for role compression if no other teammate has access to it.

Krilowatt

Just like Mega Crucibelle, Krilowatt has access to Magic Guard, making it impossible to wear down with entry hazards and allowing it to use a recoil-less Life Orb. Discharge is less powerful than Thunderbolt, but it is still a great move because it can paralyze the foe, which helps in some matchups to slow down Pokémon such as Jumbao, opposing Mega Crucibelle, and Choice Band Kitsunoh, but you can always choose Thunderbolt if you want Krilowatt to hit harder. Ice Beam completes the classic BoltBeam coverage and means that most Ground-types have to think twice before switching into Krilowatt. Earth Power deals massive damage to threats like Heatran, Mollux, and Mega Crucibelle. Hidden Power Grass allows Krilowatt to take on Water / Ground types like Swampert, Gastrodon, and Quagsire, which are immune to Volt Switch and can take Ice Beam easily, and Hidden Power Fire lets it deal with Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor much more easily.

Syclant

Syclant is a unique addition to VoltTurn teams because of its ability Mountaineer, which makes Syclant immune to Stealth Rock, combined with the power from Ice Beam or Earth Power, the latter of which can be used when up against a Steel- or Fire- type Pokémon like Heatran. Spikes is really good for chipping the foe, since they'll be playing around U-turn, and Tail Glow can potentially let Syclant sweep if it gets a free turn.

Common Teammates

Tapu Koko sets up Electric Terrain to help Volt Switch users, being guaranteed to almost always attack first thanks to its great Speed, which is very important in VoltTurn teams. Landorus-T does the same as in OU, which is put up Stealth Rock and take on physical sweepers thanks to Intimidate allowing it to pivot more safely. Scizor is not as popular as in OU thanks to the popularity of defensive Tomohawk, Arghonaut, Pyroak, Volkraken, and Fire-types in general, but it is a good option on VoltTurn teams thanks its amazing defensive typing and ability to eliminate hazards with Defog and hit hard with Bullet Punch. Assault Vest Magearna is also very useful because it can sponge powerful special attacks. Also, a good portion of the CAP metagame is weak to Fairy; and having Pokémon that can resist Fairy- types are good teammates. There are also sweepers that can take advantage of VoltTurn; for example, Icium Z or Electrium Z Kyurem-B which let you break common cores like Chansey+Tomohawk keeping it a better momentum. Mega Pinsir gives your team an immunity to Ground and can set up easily against Colossoil, defensive Tomohawk helps eliminate hazards, while offensive variants can take on one of the biggest threats to VoltTurn in Pyroak, which resists U-turn and Volt Switch, and Volkraken can assault the opposing team with strong special attacks.

As you can see, CAP's offensive playstyles are very different to those of OU. Rain has a few new team members such as Choice Specs Volkraken, which can 2HKO almost everything; Tomohawk, a fantastic secondary rain setter with Healing Wish support to boot; and Mollux, which can tank hits and provides hazard control. Trick Room has a boost to its viability with Fidgit extending Trick Room from five turns to seven, giving your strong attackers more turns to destroy the opposing team. Finally, VoltTurn has hazard-immune Pokémon like Mega Crucibelle, Krilowatt, and Syclant, which make VoltTurn one of the easiest playstyles to play. Just remember that, for any of these playstyles, you have to watch out for additional defensive walls like Tomohawk, Arghonaut, Pyroak, Cyclohm, and Jumbao, as well as OU mainstays like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, Chansey, Toxapex, and Clefable. Don't forget to visit the CAP Pokémon Showdown! Chatroom and the CAP Discord for more discussion and some teambuilding help, as the CAP community is very friendly, open minded, and willing to chat to newcomers; if you want to learn, just hop on there.

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