CAP 26 - Part 1 - Concept Submissions

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Quanyails

On sabbatical!
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The Concept will be a guiding force throughout the ensuing project, to ensure the the final result is a cohesive competitive Pokemon. Any discussions, suggestions, or submissions in later topics, that do not support the spirit of the Concept, will be moderated by the Topic Leader. Concepts must be presented as high-level descriptions of a general idea. They cannot be detailed Pokemon designs. Since we have polls to determine each aspect of the Pokemon, we cannot allow any specific features of the Pokemon to be determined by the details of the Concept. We intentionally have many rules regarding Concept Submissions. If you are not prepared to read and understand all the rules, then don't bother making a submission. These rules are made to help narrow the field of concepts down to those that have been carefully designed. This is not meant to be easy for everyone -- a good, legal Concept requires a lot of thought and careful wording. The following rules must be followed when submitting a Concept:
  • Concepts must work with the mechanics laid out in Pokemon Sun/Moon. A concept that requires a custom ability, move, or other element that cannot be found on a Pokemon from Sun or Moon is not allowed. A concept must be feasible with the gameplay mechanics that are currently available. A concept MAY reference Pokemon unique to the CAP metagame, but the concept must be able to be fulfilled by a creation with access to only GameFreak created abilities, moves, etc. In short, "no customs." We are using GameFreak's toolbox.
  • One submission per person. You may edit your Concept, but you may not change the fundamental premise after it has been posted. If editing your concept, please edit the original post instead of posting a new revision. Do not bump your Concept after you have posted it. If people do not comment on it, so be it.
  • Do not duplicate or closely-resemble Concepts already posted by others. It is your responsibility to read through all previous submissions in this thread to ensure you are complying with this rule. Ignorance or laziness is not an excuse.
  • Specific Pokemon types or type combos cannot be included or excluded in a Concept. Nor can other characteristics of the Concept specifically result in in the inclusion or exclusion of Types. For example, the following phrases would be illegal:
    "This is a Dragon pokemon with..." "The pokemon should be immune to Ghost attacks..." "The pokemon should have at least 7 resistances..." "The pokemon should get STAB on Thunderbolt.."
  • Specific Abilities are not allowed. This applies to existing abilities and new abilities. Do not attempt to circumvent this rule by mentioning specific battle effects that can only be achieved by the implementation of an ability. For example, the following phrases would be illegal:
    "This pokemon should have a defensive ability like Intimidate or Marvel Scale..." "This pokemon has an ability that steals the opponent's held item..." "When this pokemon is switched in, all weather conditions are nullified..."
  • Movepools or lists of moves are not allowed. A specific move can be mentioned if it is the basis for the entire concept. For example, the Concept "Rapid Spinner" would obviously mention the move Rapid Spin.
  • Specific stat bias, base stats, or base stat ratings are not allowed. It is acceptable to use descriptive phrases like "fast", "bulky", "strong attacker", etc -- since there are a variety of ways a pokemon can fit those descriptions without specifically requiring certain stats. But, do not use overly-specific descriptions that would narrowly constrain the pokemon's base stat spread.
  • Indications of Physical/Special bias are discouraged, but acceptable if it is essential to the Concept.
  • Do not refer to any part of the pokemon's artistic design. For example, the following phrases would be illegal:
    "This is a bright blue pokemon..." "The pokemon looks like a..." "The pokemon uses its long tail to..."
  • A Concept Submission must be submitted in the proper format. The format is described below. If the proper format is not used, the moderators will not evaluate the submission, regardless of content.
Concept Submission Format Use this format for all concept submissions: Here is the format with tags. Just copy/paste this into your post, and fill it out:
  • Name - Don't get too clever with the name. If the essence of the concept is not intuitively obvious in the name, then you are hurting your chances of people understanding it. If the essence of your concept cannot be expressed in a few words, then you need to seriously re-evaluate your concept.
  • Description - This is the official description of the concept, and must follow ALL the content rules listed above. Do not make this a long description. Long descriptions are invariably too specific or too convoluted. Keep it short. Any more than a sentence or two is TOO MUCH. Do NOT include your Explanation of the concept in the Description. See "Explanation" below.
  • Justification - Utilizing the CAP Concept Toolkit, craft a concept that can fit into at least one of the following categories: Actualization, Archetype, or Target. Please explicitly state the category names as applicable to your specific justification and explain.
    • Actualization: What is the feeling your Concept Pokemon INSPIRES when used properly in the metagame, do existing Pokemon come close to that, and why or why not?
    • Archetype: What does your Concept Pokemon DO - functionally - in the metagame, and why does the metagame need something with that role? Use Smogon's Pokemon Dictionary to assist with role definitions.
    • Target: What does your Concept Pokemon ADDRESS in the metagame, and why is addressing that target important?
  • If you cannot justify your concept utilizing one (or more) of the three tools above, then your concept is illegal for the CAP project. (More at the end of the OP)
  • Questions To Be Answered - The purpose of the CAP project is to learn new things about the metagame, and each concept submission is a proposed "experiment". Each tool has its own specific set of questions, but good concepts often can explain other facets of competitive Pokemon. Use this section to pose those additional questions. Note that this is different from Justification where you are answering tool-related questions, in this section you are proposing questions.
  • Explanation - This can contain just about anything. This is where you can explain your concept without restraint. You may make suggestions, even specific suggestions, regarding the possible implementation of the Concept. This explanation should help facilitate discussion of the Concept -- but the Explanation is NOT part of the Concept and will be omitted from the polls and any future use of the Concept. Since your explanation is non-binding, regarding future polls and threads, it will not be evaluated for purposes of determining if your concept is legal or illegal. Although it is tempting, refrain from making too long of an explanation; it will deter readers from fully considering your concept.
It is the submitter's responsibility to figure out how to make a legal submission within the rules listed above. Do not complain about the difficulty of making a submission in this thread. There are many, many legal concepts that can be presented within the rules. Here are few examples of good and bad Concepts from previous projects:

Good Concepts from Past Projects
"Pure Utility Pokemon"
"Anti-Ghost Rapid Spinner"
"True Garchomp Counter"
"Ultimate Weather Abuser"
"Status Counter" "Momentum"

Bad Concepts from Past Projects
"Ice-Resisting Dragon"
"Super Luck User"
"STAB Explosion Glass Cannon"
"Auto-Stealth Rock Remover"
"A Pokemon with Special Intimidate"
"Pyrokinetic Pokemon (Fire/Psychic)"
"Special Guts"
"Typing Means Nothing"

Note that all good concepts do not specifically dictate anything in later polls. Please try to remember that we are simply pointing the project in a general direction, we are not trying to decide anything right now. We have several weeks of polls ahead of us where EVERYTHING about this Pokemon will be dissected, discussed, voted, and decided. The concept is a very basic guide for the creation process. It is hard to provide solid concept descriptions without basically designing the entire Pokemon right off the bat. Submissions should be written and chosen very carefully to avoid these problems.

Past Projects and Concept Toolbox:
Stratagem (Break The Mold), Tomohawk (Momentum) and Kitsunoh (Ultimate Scout) were great examples of an Actualization concept. Most of the "teammate" concepts (Voodoom and Volkraken) also broadly fell under this, actualizing a core that would change the metagame. The lion's share of CAP Concepts in the past have been Actualization concepts.

Fidgit (Pure Utility Pokemon) and Naviathan (Use the Boost to Get Through!) are examples of successful Archetype projects. We didn't have concepts at the time of Revenankh, but "Ultimate Bulk Up Sweeper" fits the definition of an Archetype concept.

Arghonaut (Decentralizer) and Colossoil (Stop the Secondary) are the best examples of previous successful Target projects, Arghonaut's was literally based around re-centering the metagame, while Colossoil's purpose was to target the most common users of status and secondary effects. Malaconda's concept (Type Equalizer) was also at its base a Target project.

---

CAP 26 so far:

Leadership Team:

SHSP - Topic Leader​
GMars - Typing Leader​
Jordy - Ability Leader​
Jho - Stats Leader​
G-Luke - Movepool Leader​
 

SHSP

is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top CAP Contributor
Moderator
Hey everyone!

After the rather incredible task asked of us in CAP25's celebration, CAP 26 is a bit more of a return to the norm. Gen 7 is still very broad, with many different niches and options open to us, and I'm sure many concepts to make use of them. There is still a lot to play around with that we haven't yet touched, and I encourage the community to make use of these unique aspects that we have at our disposal. I will echo some of my predecessors here; I suggest that those new to or newly interested in the Project to explore the Metagame as well to understand the metagame we are building for. I plan on working very closely with my extremely talented TLT, and I suggest that if any questions come up not to hesitate to PM me on Discord or on here to address them.

As for the concepts themselves, I think that as past TL's have made mention to, the most important aspect of them is the "Questions to be Answered" section: that is where the depth of a concept is shown and how much we can take or learn from it is understood. I plan on responding to these concepts rather often, so expect to hear from me a lot throughout this step. I don't recommend any specific approach to a concept, just that they are well written and well thought out, and am extremely excited to see what CAP's bright minds bring us to work with.

Lets get this show on the road!
 
Name: Pick Your Poison
Description: A Pokémon that has several threatening tools on its arsenal but can’t have all at once. Preferably having different options fitting better on different types of teams.
Justification: This fits better on Archetype, as CAP 26 would fill a rather unique niche. There are some examples of Pokémon with 4MSS, two equally strong abilities, or moveset incompatibilities, but nothing as drastic as CAP 26 should be if this concept is picked.
Questions To Be Answered:
  • How can a CAP be balanced in a way that all options are equally appealing?
  • How would such a Pokémon with vastly different tools at its disposal work in the CAP environment?
  • How can CAP 26 be tailored to be more team-specific to give all of its options different contexts?
  • How can CAP 26 be made in such a way that it isn’t too overly versatile?
Explanation: While there are always some smaller instances of this. The goal of CAP 26 is to be fairly customizable and have several options of which it can use. This can be done through abilities, having to choose between two or three of them; through move incompatibilities, the easier way would be to have a handful of event moves that can only be attained on separate events, or perhaps have a group of old tutor moves and recent egg moves et cetera; through 4-moveslot-syndrom, which would imply giving CAP 26 plenty of options but it’s limited by the four moveslots already (which is honestly the least interesting option I feel, as its hard to make it customizable and hard to execute well without making CAP 26 suffer in the process, plus plenty of Pokémon face this already so I’m not sold on it, but it’s a possibility nonetheless); and lastly a combination of the aforementioned. But yeah that’s my concept hope you like it :)
 

Frostbiyt

Not Exactly Helping
For those of you struggling to come up with a concept, here's a few concepts submitted for previous CAPs I think are intersting that you can look at and either rehash or take inspiration from. Be sure to either ask permission from the original poster or credit them, depending on how similar your submission is to theirs. The first two were for CAP 25, so they'd need to be modified to fit a single mon.

Name: Once More, with Feeling!
Description: These CAPs would be designed to take ideas/concepts/gimmicks from past Pokemon, that either looked good on paper but didn't work in practice, or that just never worked in the first place, and revamp them into competitive viability.

Name: First Come, First Served
Description: Each pokemon will explore a different method of allowing your team to move first.

Name: These Shackles Make Me Mortal
Description: - A Pokemon whose god-like strengths are intentionally held down through well-placed, overwhelming weaknesses.

PureQuestion submitted their own version of this

Name: A Coat of Many Colors
Description: A Pokemon that takes advantage of multiple resist berries.

Snorlax_in_the_way resubmitted this concept

Name: Distribution Revolution
Description: A Pokemon which puts heavy emphasis on the importance of the distribution of EVs.
 
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Name: The Sweeper Stopper

Description: A Pokemon to stop entire teams falling to one powerful Pokemon.

Justification: This Pokemon would fall under Target. Something that has been plaguing the metagame as of late are set up sweepers. Rather than nerf every powerful Pokemon, why not provide a suitable answer to them? This idea would serve to balance a metagame inundated with Pokemon that can end games with one or two turns of opportunity.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • How can this one Pokemon stand up to the various sweeper options available in the CAP metagame?
  • How would CAP 26 be balanced properly to avoid becoming problematic in the meta itself?
  • What could be done to make sure that this idea doesn’t completely invalidate sweepers?
Explanation: The idea behind this is simple. The CAP meta has a lot of powerful sweeper options in it, such as Aurumoth, Necturna, and Cawmodore. Sure there are some answers to them like Tomohawk with priority Haze and Sucker Punch mons, but all of these are clearly lacking as Necturna is swiftly approaching the chopping block due to its impressive ability to set up and annihilate teams. Rather than nerf mons like it that break the meta, I feel we could take this opportunity with CAP 26 to introduce a suitable answer that balances the meta without totally taking away the option to run sweeper sets. There are of course several ways that could be accomplished, but in my own thoughts in coming up with this concept, I envisioned a Pokemon with Unaware that can resist key attacking typings utilized by common sweepers.
 
Name:
The Alolan Variant

Description:
This project would analyze a previous concept that is perceived to have failed and make a of that Pokemon that has similar stats but with a typing, ability, and move pool that more effectively actualize the concept.

(Credit to frostbiyt for help with the description)

Justification:
This Actualization Pokémon will look to take the concept of an existing Pokemon that failed; and recreate it with similar stats but drastically altered ability/move pool/typing. Either through an entirely new Pokemon; or an alolan variant of an existing Pokemon. This could also fall under Target as it aims to accomplish something a previous pokemon didn't do a very good job at.

Questions:
  • How can we make this concept not too flavor focused?
  • Should it be an entirely new Pokemon with a similar concept? Or just an alolan variant of an existing Pokemon?
  • Would the alolan variant completely out class its other form?
  • What do we do about stat altering so we don't lose a vital part of the creation process?
Explanation:
Due to CAP rules custom Z-Moves aren't allowed to be added onto a Pokemon. I really wanted to take advantage of all the cool things introduced in Sun and Moon so I thought alolan variants would be a great way to accomplish this task.
While some could argue that this is a framework; and that the concept is very vague and destroys the building process through similar stats/ move pools I would disagree. Alolan ninetales has a largely different move pool from ninetales; and some variants like dugtrio have altered stats.
As far as more flavorful parts of the building go; the art would be a cool rendition of an existing CAP pokemon; and the name could be decided because CAP is getting large enough to be it's own region now; maybe this isn't an alolan variant maybe it's a variant from a new region yet to be named where all the CAP pokemon exist; and we could pick a name for the region during this building process.
The variant could also just be an entirely new pokemon with a similar concept to a previously failed pokemon; with altered typing/move pool/ability to make it more viable.
 
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Frostbiyt

Not Exactly Helping
Name: Discount Zygarde

Description: This Pokemon would subvert the standard typing interactions to improve its matchup against certain opponents

Justification: I think this concept would best fit within the Archetype and Target Categories. Due to the limited distribution of the moves and abilities that change type effectiveness, whatever methods are chosen will allow this Pokemon to do something that other Pokemon in the metagame can't, such as an Ice type that has no trouble breaking through Water types(Freeze Dry) or a Ground types that can handle Flying Types(Gravity).

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Many of these moves have been used in the past and some still see usage in other tiers, what is the situation that allows for these moves to be used effectively? Is the meta uniquely susceptible to the move in question? Does this move allow the Pokemon that's using it to overcome a flaw that holds it back? Is the move itself just so good that it's hard for it not to be used?
  • What about the lesser used moves? Do they not get used because they're bad? Do the Pokemon that have them lack the tools necessary to utilize them? Or are they overshadowed by more powerful moves and strategies?
  • Once we analyze why some of these moves get used, can we use that information to determine what other moves may offer similar utility but just haven't had the perfect Pokemon to utilize it?
  • There are obvious routes to explore on the offensive side of things, but could this concept be used on a more defensive oriented Pokemon?
Explanation: There are quite a few types of moves I think would work with this concept. There are probably others, but most of them either have alternate type effectiveness baked into them, then there are moves that remove type immunities, and there are moves that can change the type of the user or target.

If you have any feedback, you can post it here or @ me on Discord
 
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MrDollSteak

CAP 1v1 me IRL
is a Community Contributoris an Artist Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Name: Eviolite Abuser

Description: A Pokemon that is able to viably use the defensive boost provided by the Eviolite for a range of different purposes in the meta game.

Justification: This concept falls under the category of Actualization. The Eviolite is a powerful item that sees varied use across a range of different tiers allowing certain NFE Pokemon to fill a range of different roles in their respective metas through the passive defense boost that it provides. In Gen 7 OU and CAP, however, Chansey is the only Pokemon that uses the Eviolite to appear, although in previous generations Pokemon like Porygon2, Dusclops and Magneton all had some success in OU. In recent times Pluffle has also seen some niche play because of the sheer power of the Eviolite making its ability more useful. In the lower tiers, Pokemon like Scyther and Zweilous manage to use the Eviolite to set up and sweep.

Such a concept would allow for CAP to balance the power of defensive boosts, particularly when they don't require moves to function, and explore how a Pokemon could still manage to fulfil a variety of roles without depending on different items.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Why have NFE Pokemon other than Chansey fallen out of favour in the USUM CAP Metagame?
  • How has the bulk afforded by the Eviolite allowed for some NFE Pokemon like Chansey to become more commonly run than their evolutions, and not for others?
  • What is the ideal stat distribution for a Pokemon running the Eviolite? Is there a necessary threshold for the Pokemon's defensive stats to meet to gain the full benefits of the item? How will the Pokemon be encouraged to run the Eviolite?
  • What are the different roles that Pokemon that currently run the Eviolite across all tiers fill in teams? Can these various roles have a place in the CAP metagame?
  • What are some of the roles that a Pokemon with high defensive stats can run?
  • Is the Eviolite a purely defensive item? Is it possible for an NFE Pokemon to run an offensive set using the Eviolite? If so, what would be the benefit of running a defensive item like the Eviolite?
  • Could an NFE Pokemon run multiple different sets which all rely on the one item? Would it be possible for these sets to have different checks and counters? How would these different sets support teams differently? What kind of Pokemon would benefit from having a Pokemon that runs the Eviolite on their team?
  • Is a Pokemon that is completely dependant on an item for its viability vulnerable in the current metagame? Is it something that can be easily countered by Knock-Off or Trick? Would this prevent said Pokemon from ever becoming a top metagame threat? Should a way to mitigate this be encouraged in later stages?
  • Is it possible for a Pokemon that is designed to run the Eviolite to run other items successfully ? If so, how would they change its role in the metagame? How would these sets counteract its other weaknesses? Is just the mere possibility of running the Eviolite enough to make counterplay more interesting?
  • What are some of the differences between designing a Pokemon to utilise the Eviolite, and just designing a Pokemon with higher defensive stats?
Explanation: I came up with this idea after discussing creating a CAP evolution for a canon Pokemon with Mova. One of the questions that we discussed was whether or not the Eviolite by itself would be enough to make certain Pokemon viable when given an evolution. Considering how powerful the Eviolite is in lower tiers, its lack of significant usage in the CAP metagame is particularly interesting to me, with even Chansey being comparatively unpopular in the current metagame. Since there are no other Eviolite users in CAP at the moment, it raises an interesting question about whether this is a result of the item itself, or a lack of viable abusers.

I became convinced about this concept's uniqueness when asked by Quanyails what the difference was between designing a Pokemon with high defenses and a Pokemon with lower defenses that are then multiplied by the Eviolite. I personally believe that the difference lies in the potential for counter play, with moves like Trick and Knock Off existing, which in turn allows for some other flexibility in BST distribution, though I believe there is a lot more potential for good discussion regarding this. It also means that sets that choose not to run the Eviolite will not benefit from particularly high defenses, allowing it to be more easily revenge killed etc. This could lead to some interesting mind games in regards to how checking or countering the Pokemon could play out if it is expected to have a certain threshold of speed or bulk at any given time.

In addition, I think there is room to explore the possibilities of what a passive defense boost can offer to a Pokemon, particularly one that is not designed to be a purely passive, defensive Pokemon like Chansey. As Scyther has shown with its Swords Dance, Roost Eviolite set, it is possible for the Eviolite to provide set up opportunities and allow it to muscle-through would be offensive checks.

As for the issue of having to also design the CAPS evolution (because how else would it run the Eviolite), I envisioned it being a flavour stage after the initial design process, in place of the typical pre-evolution stage, where the evolution being designed would be a non-competitive Pokemon belonging in CAP RU or NU. Ideally it would have a power level similar to Voodoom, whereby it cannot achieve anything more than what the pre evolution can with the Eviolite but still possibly see some play. I personally think the best way of ensuring that this is the case is by answering some of the questions above, whereby its inability to access the Eviolite will immediately discount its viability, although this could also be done by having a situation similar to Scyther and Scizor but in reverse, where the redistribution or type change are unfavourable, or by giving it an uncompetitive ability.
 
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Wulfanator

Clefable's wish came true!
is a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributor
Moderator
Name: Locked and Loaded

Description: This Pokemon utilizes moves that lock itself in for more than 1 turn.

Justification: This concept fits the actualization and target categories as it looks to make multi-turn moves more significant in the meta. Most players see these moves as a liability more than an asset. The idea is to change public perception on these moves. Outrage + Lum berry is an iconic combination that has seemed dead since the introduction of fairy-typing in generation 6. Charge-up moves, recharge moves, and multi-turn attacks would all be considered in the scope of this concept.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Why are these moves overlooked even in cases of having strong base power?
  • What ways can players take advantage of these multi-turn moves?
  • What archetypal roles can these moves fill on teams?
  • Do these moves require strong move-ability synergy or can these moves stand out alone?
  • Do these moves require strong team support?
  • Do these moves require strong move-item synergy similar to outrage + lum?
Explination: This concept was something I had brainstormed back during the start of CAP25. I've been excited to see what to community has to bring to the table with this concept. So many interesting moves seem undervalued. Multi-turns like Outrage and Thrash are considered outdated. Multi-turns like Ice ball and Rollout are considered too weak. Recharge moves like Hyper beam and Rock wrecker are only considered for z-nuking potential. Charge-ups like Solar beam and Geomancy seem to only be used with z-move or power herb. This only scratches the surface of the concept.
 
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Name: Gotta go fast!

Description: A Pokemon with the capacity to outspeed almost anything the meta can throw at it.

Justification: This concept falls under Actualization. We all know that a Pokemon always moves first if it has a higher speed stat than its opponent, as seen in Mega Beedrill, Greninja, and Blaziken, each of which currently resides in UU, OU, and Ubers respectively. Yet, we've rarely ever seen a Pokemon going whole hog with the idea of outspeeding an opponent, at least one that's presently in OU.

Thus, this concept aims to rectify that problem by putting together a Pokemon that can abuse its speed stat to its fullest potential, and win.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • What is CAP 26 to do once it outspeeds its opponent?
  • Is there anything new that can be done with that speed?
Explanation: This concept has been ruminating in my mind ever since I began running Mega Beedrill in Showdown's ORAS OU, and only now have I found an outlet to get my concept through to eyes other than my own. Funnily enough, during one match, I kinda ran a balanced core with Mega Beedrill and Ferrothorn, pivoting in and out of each other. Come to think of it, the idea of an all out speedster stems from one of Ninjask's pokedex entry when I played pokemon pinball ruby & sapphire.

Update: Thanks SHSP for having me focus on the meat of my concept.
 
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Dogfish44

You can call me Jiggly
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a CAP Contributor
Moderator
Name - The Future is Bright!

Description - A Pokemon that makes usage of the 'delayed-attack' moves - Future Sight and/or Doom Desire

Justification - Given we're attempting to create a Pokemon that uses one of two specific moves, this is an Actualisation concept. Future Sight and Doom Desire are incredibly unique moves, which see limited usage in spite of their high base power, and ability to have a target Pokemon struck twice in the same turn. In using CAP26, the aim is to create a Pokemon that inspires a feeling of being able to trap opponents, to establish win-win situations.

Questions To Be Answered -
  • One Pokemon which has been seen to fairly reliably use Future Sight is Slowking. What can we learn from Slowking about what makes a viable user of Future Sight? On the same token, what has led Jirachi to not be effective at using Doom Desire, and other Pokemon to not effectively use Future Sight?
  • What is the optimum usage of Future Sight/Doom Desire, both on the turn immediately after using the move, and the turn on which the move will land?
  • Should the user of Future Sight/Doom Desire be primarily helping itself, or other teammates. If helping itself, what is the aim? If helping teammates, then what types of teammate?
  • Are Z-Future Sight and Z-Doom Desire mandatory, or just useful tools?

Explantion - Doom Desire is almost one we've done before, as people from the era of Cawmodore probably remember. Whilst little has changed since then, we have seen Future Sight get another power level increase since then.

This isn't a case of using a move which we know can't be used - we can look to Slowking (Future Sight) or Dialga (Balanced Hackmons, Doom Desire) for inspiration on what makes these moves workable. At the same time, we know that they're not automatic locks in spite of their high base power, allowing us room to explore what makes these moves often fall flat.

The beauty of Future Sight and Doom Desire as concept leads is that they don't massively restrict our ability to choose a direction right from the gate - focussing on these moves for their ability to strike twice in a single turn likely produces a Pokemon that is very different from focussing on these moves for their ability to force specific Pokemon out for a teammate to switch in. Whether we create a Pokemon that breaks walls, or pivots around, or supports a very specific partner, or something else entirely, these moves make for a concept that should be both interesting to implement, and with many avenues to explore.
 
Name: Set Customization

Description:
This Pokémon can customize their nature and EV’s (as well as item, ability and move choice) to change its functionality and take on different sets such as fast sweeper, tank and wall breaker for example as well as take on different Pokémon.

Justification:
Having a Pokémon that can take on different roles increases its versatility and helps when putting in as a team slot as it can mold its set to compliment the team. It also enables some customization when selecting this CAP and creates some minor mind games when an opponent tries to figure out which set.
Archetype: This CAP will have different archetypes it may fill depending on the chosen set from the options of different sets.

Questions to be Answered:
  • What kinds of different sets can we have a single CAP take on while still being viable?
  • How do all of the possible factors (ability, typing, move coverage, and stats/EV distribution) affect versatility in a Pokémon and what different sets it can be?
  • How does having multiple viable sets on a Pokémon affect how people play against it?
  • How would this CAP encourage scenarios where it doesn’t want to run one single “best set”?
  • How will this CAP’s speed be defined, given that it may want different EV spreads for speed?
  • How will this CAP’s checks and counters be defined since it can run multiple sets?
Explanation:
The main interest of this concept is customization thanks to the option of running different sets. This customization leads to interesting scenarios where there are significant tradeoffs between choices. The most obvious examples include Landorus-T who can run Defensive, Scarf or Z-Move setup sweeper sets, and Magearna who can run Defensive, Shift Gear, Trick Room and even Choice Specs (even though not common) sets. These examples can effectively run multiple sets because they have stats that cause ev’s and nature to be highly customizable.

Some examples about how sets can be varied:
  • Positive speed nature to out speed threats or neutral speed to invest elsewhere like offense or defense at the cost of being out speed by certain threats
  • Positive Attack/Special Attack nature to become a stronger breaker and change 3hkos into 2hkos for example, or neutral Attack/Special Attack nature to invest elsewhere like speed or defense
  • Either running a choice scarf to be a revenge killer or a life orb to be a breaker
  • Either a defensive/tank set with Leftovers/Assault Vest and defensive EV investment or an offensive set with Life Orb and offensive investment
  • Either Physical, Special or Mixed sets
  • Lure sets with uncommon coverage moves versus other move options like recovery or setup
  • Niche set options like trick room
An additional note that wide move pools enable numerous sets such as Tapu Koko’s Dual Screens or Defog sets in addition to its offensive sets. This would greatly help when creating multiple sets for this CAP.
 
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Name - Stings like Hell

Description - A fast pivot that makes use of the move Fell Stinger to threaten sweeps and force weakened pokemon to switch.

Justification - This concept fits under both Actualisation and Archetype. As far as Actualisation, it centers around tailor-making a pokemon that can make actual use of a unique but very bad move (namely, fell stinger). Archetype, because it also seeks to create an effective pivot that can threaten a lategame set-up sweep.

Questions To Be Answered -
  • Can you force a successful Fell Stinger kill? What partners would allow that?
  • Is the threat of a successful Fell Stinger kill enough to make the opponent switch out weakened pokemon? How can we make it that threatening?
  • With two move slots already taken up by Fell Stinger and a pivot move, can CAP 26 still get enough coverage to actually threaten setup sweeps?
  • When should you take the risk of using Fell Stinger? When should you take the risk of staying in against CAP 26?
  • Does Fell Stinger need to do a decent chunk of damage itself to make this concept workable? Or would catching sturdy pokemon and sash users unawares give this pokemon enough of a roll?
  • Are there any existing OU offensive pokemon with False Swipe access that could be used in conjunction with CAP 26? Should it be built with one in mind?
Explanation - Sacrificing pokemon is common enough during play, especially on offensive teams, and the idea of a pokemon punishing that strategy in particular is a big part of this concept. So is the infamously failed attempt at exploring "risk" through Aurumoth - here, the risk is simple; Do you take the risk of using Fell Stinger instead of pivoting and keeping momentum? Do you take the risk of staying in against CAP 26 when it just MIGHT go for the sting?
Beyond that, I feel a pivot is the perfect home for Fell Stinger - the pokemon can swap back out with another on an unsuccessful attempt, or volt-switch/u-turn to begin with and merely threaten the sting.
I feel that going with U-Turn for the pivot move and a physical bias is a rather clear choice, and so is Bug typing to give both it and Fell Stinger STAB, - this would make rocks a limiting factor and something to build around - but STAB leech life could be a powerful tool to help offset the life loss from entry hazards. Technician could be interesting, and perhaps necessary to make Fell Stinger workable.
That said, going for volt switch and making it a mixed attacker until Stinger goes off would be very interesting, if more challenging.
 
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Birkal

We have the technology.
is a Top Artistis a Top CAP Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Name: Celebrity Entourage

Description: This Pokemon supports the playstyle and tactical considerations of a single, well-documented Smogon competitor.

Justification: Very few concepts we have explored in the Create-A-Pokemon Project have explored what is the most important ingredient in competitive battles: the players. Through this concept, the CAP community would sift through replays, RMTs, YouTube videos, interviews, posts, and miscellaneous content of a community-appointed Smogon battler. Using this information, we'd condense their overall competitive mindset into a Pokemon that caters to how they play the game. We have a gargantuan amount to learn as a community from analyzing a high-profile competitor as we actualize their battle mindset into a newly created Pokemon.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Basic: What are some considerations the competitor makes when building a team? For example, do they prefer certain types or stat biases?
  • Basic: What is the competitor's mindset when going into a battle? How do they mentally prepare for the battle and ultimately select a team?
  • Intermediate: What is the competitor's mindset like during the battle? How concrete is this during team preview? Does this shift at all as wincons are established?
  • Intermediate: How often does the competitor repeat Pokemon selection and general team composition? Are they varied and unpredictable, or safe and fortified? Do they tend to select Pokemon with singular sets or a plethora of options?
  • Advanced: How does luck and hax factor into a competitor's selection of a specific Pokemon? Where does the competitor lie on the spectrum of power versus accuracy, and does this mindset change based on the stakes of the match?
  • Advanced: What is the mindset of a competitive battler? How much of it is social versus self-prep? How much of it is unchangeable versus flexible? How much does this vary between competitors, and does this variation correlate to any sort data?
Explanation: In the past, CAP has mostly completed concepts that revolve around Pokemon rather than battlers; that being said, focusing on the players isn't unheard of in the project. Concepts like "Risky Business" from CAP15 (Aurumoth) and "Einherjar" from CAP19 (Plasmanta) both encouraged us to study the mindset of a battle, and what it takes to fake out opponents and take calculated risks in a game with imperfect luck. Both of these concepts blundered in some shape or form to completely fulfill their concept, in my opinion, because they failed to get practical enough in their conversations to be imported into competitive battles.

This concept seeks to reymedy this by focusing on a specific battler in the competitive Smogon community. By dialing in on a single user, we'll find at least a pearl or two of wisdom on the mindset of competitive play to benefit us all. Once we select that user, a tsunami of information is available to us to pick apart, thanks to saved replays, YouTube videos logs, and interviews (The Competitor). It would be fascinating to even bring that user into CAP to share their competitive mindset, like how they prepare for games, what they look for while teambuilding, and how they address conflict during a high-stakes match.

Once we've decided upon a specific battler to hogg the spotlight for CAP26 and gathered resources about them, we can go about fulfilling the concept through the creation of a Pokemon designed to cater to that user's playstyle. While we certainly should analyze what types, abilities, and moves that competitor will lust for during teambuilding, it's far more important that we capture the essence of what makes them a successful competitor. Are they aggressive or defensive, or an unpredictable combination of both? Will they go for the hot prediction more often than playing it safe? Does their mindset shift based on the stakes of the match, and their selection of a team consequentially? Through this concept, these types of question would pose less of a Mr.E to the Smogon community as a whole through us hosting a conversation about it. There's an absolute plethora for us to learn about competitive Pokemon in the Create-A-Pokemon Project, and doing it through the lens of a selected battler seems like an ideal way for us to aim to learn more about mindset, teambuilding, and playstyle.

As a final note, you may have noticed that I highlighted some stone cold, tough-as-nails, bad ass users. This concept isn't solely meant to create a Pokemon for a tournament regular; we could just as easily complete this concept focusing on a UU player, an ADV OU player, a CAP player, or whomever we choose. On the other hand, it may behoove us to select someone with thorough documentation on their battles (lots of logs, YouTube videos, available for interviews) so we have a plethora of information to distill. Just thought I'd make a note of it!
 
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Name: Drive User
Description: A Pokémon designed to make use of Techno Blast.
Justification: This concept fits under Actualization. This concept seeks to explore how the unique trade offs of the move can make an interesting and flexible threat.
Questions To Be Answered:
  • How can CAP 26 make the best use of Techno Blast?
  • How can the Pokemon compensate for a lack of item?
  • Is Techno Blast worth using without a drive?
Explanation - Techno Blast is a powerful and versatile move, giving its user access to a 120 base power coverage move in exchange for its item. The main issue with the move, is that Genesect already has all the coverage it could ever want, rendering the move pointless on it. This CAP would explore possibilities of the move.



Edit: Reverse Argonaut, on closer examination, is most definitely a partner project, so here is a different concept.
 
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WIP

Name
- Mind Manipulation

Description - A Pokémon seeking to take advantage of and/or deterring the opponent's use of common moves during a match.

Justification - This concept would mostly fall under Target as it is supposed to address specific, common strategies involving moves the opponent uses, rather than your own. As a result, it would force the opponent to think twice about using those moves, allowing for a different flow of the match and some interesting plays.

Questions To Be Answered

  • What are common moves a player might use and why are they inclined to use them?
  • How often are these moves (successfully) used within any given match? What situations lead up to use of these moves?
  • Are players willing to take risks or would they rather stay on the safe side?
  • What can a player do to prevent or deter the opponent from using these moves? How can we take advantage of the things the opponent does?
  • How important are mind games before and during matches?
  • Is the presence of a Pokémon designed to stop plays on a team enough to scare the opponent into making different plays?
  • What does deterring an opponent from using certain moves open up for us? Why would we want to manipulate the opponent to make different plays?
Explanation - The aim of this concept is to shake up a match by playing mindgames with the opponent. This allows for many possible ways to successfully complete the concept, because there are a wide variety of commonly used moves. Take for example pivoting, hazard removal, setup moves, status etc. There are few existing Pokémon which take advantage of their opponent, notably things like Bisharp and Thundurus-I which through Defiant deter the opponent from using Defog or risk heavy damage, and Garchomp, which with Rough Skin and a Rocky Helmet makes it more annoying for the opponent to pivot.
 
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Name: I don't like pebbles and caltrops.

Description: A Pokemon that is able to deter hazards in some way.

Justification: This is a Target concept, because it is supposed to (partially) decentralize the metagame that is currently heavily based around stacking hazards.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • How can we make CAP 26 stand out from the plethora of other hazard control options?
  • What method will CAP 26 use to deter hazards?
  • How do we make sure that CAP 26 does not get an overbearing grip over the hazards game?
Explanation: From my perspective, hazards are somewhat of an issue in the current CAP metagame. While we have an extremely solid remover in Tornadus-T (currently S rank), it can feel very underwhelming, as the CAP metagame has adapted to its presence with Stealth Rock users like Mega Tyranitar, Mega Crucibelle, and Mega Diancie, while Greninja is capable of beating it and setting Spikes. Of course there are other hazard removers/deterrents like Tomohawk, Colossoil, Zapdos, and Mega Diancie (there's a noticeably big gap between their and Tornadus-T's rank), but they can struggle even more than Tornadus-T. Because of this, I feel like another solid way to deter hazards that can also fit on a variety of archetypes is a good concept to go off, and it's fairly flexible in the ways this can be achieved.
 
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  • Name - David Vs Goliath
  • Description - A Pokémon particularly suited to battling foes with higher stats than itself.
  • Justification -
    • Actualization: The Concept Pokémon should inspire fear on behalf of and desire to protect your strongest Pokémon. The closest equivalent to this is Z-moves, Explosion, two-turn moves and status effects.
    • Target: The Concept Pokémon addresses the increasing power creep in the metagame over the generations that is bound to continue and targets the high BSTs viable Mon tend to have.
  • Questions To Be Answered -
  • How much does viability depend on stats?
  • What tools can low BST Mon use to attain viability?
  • In what situations are high stats a vulnerability and low stats an advantage?
  • How can an opponent's high stats be exploited and turned into a weakness?
  • Explanation - The idea is to create a mon that uses strategies which have an increased effectiveness against opponents with at least one large stat. Examples could be Trick Room, Gyro Ball, Priority, Analytic, Glare and Skill Swapping Stall for speed, Direct Damage moves, Toxic, Will-o-Wisp and Ghost Curse for defenses, draining moves for HP, Foul Play and Will-o-Wisp for Attack etc. Let's make it harder to depend on high stats for viability and encourage some other strategies.
 
Name: Cyclohm 2: Electric Boogaloo
Description: A pokemon that effectively uses one or more undervalued or underused abilities.
Justification: This concept best fits under Actualization. This concept would most likely be used to learn about why some abilities are not used as much, and how they can be used more in the metagame. Many abilities go unnoticed because they are either locked onto pokemon that do not have the stats, moves, or typing to abuse them, or that the pokemon that could use them end up using a different ability.
Questions to be Answered:
  • What can cause a pokemon to use a underused ability rather than a more commonly used ability? Vice-Versa?
  • How can a pokemon's abilities influence what role said pokemon excels at?
  • How can a pokemon use a unviable ability effectively without having borderline Uber stats? (ex: Regigigas and Slaking)
  • What can we learn from Cyclohm and the abilities it has when designing CAP26?
  • How can we create CAP26 without stepping on the toes of Cyclohm?
  • What ideas can we expand upon from Cyclohm's concept, and how can we differentiate the results of this concept from the results of Cyclohm?
Explanation: There are a myriad of abilities that go unnoticed in the metagame, either due to a small amount of pokemon that are able to use it (such as Heatproof, an ability limited to Bronzong and Naviathan), or because many pokemon would rather use another ability over it (such as Unnerve, an ability usable by Tyranitar and Galvantula, but is not used because Sand Stream and Compound Eyes are better suited for the roles that each pokemon falls into).
 
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sister

Banned deucer.
Name: Need for Speed

Description: A Pokemon with multiple unconventional ways to boost its speed, but if it manages to do so.... watch out!

Justification: This is an actualization type. Players building for this Pokemon would need to assess all its speed boosting options and figure out which one to use based on common metagame trends.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • How can we make CAP 26 a threatening sweeper despite its unconventional set-up methods?
  • How can underutilized speed boosting methods be used to create a functional sweeper?
  • How do we encourage the use of these unconventional methods over common speed boosting tools?
Explanation: Often, the biggest thing holding an offensive Pokemon down is its poor Speed. Both casual and competitive battles have shown me never to underestimate a speed boost. There are many unconventional ways of boosting speed that dont see much use outside of a few niches, including (but not limited to) Tailwind, Flame Charge, Z-moves, etc. This could further explore the importance of speed on a metagame and how even temporary bursts of speed can be used to put the enemy in bad situations or to support another Pokemon.
 
Name: Fine, I'll do it myself

Description: This Pokemon uses moves and/or abilities to set up field effects or hazards that directly benefit it to be a far better offensive or defensive presence during a match.

Justification: This is most likely an actualization project. This Pokemon gives itself many different outs to do the work itself, but it's interesting effects or hazards can work to help out other teammates as well.

Questions to be Answered:
  • How can we encourage use of setting the field effect or hazard with CAP26 instead of a dedicated setter?
  • How can we use these field effects or hazards to facilitate CAP26 working at full potential?
  • How can CAP26 outshine pre existing users of field effects or hazards?
Explanation: There are many different field hazards that Pokemon create and use to their advantage. Tyranitar uses a special defense boost from sand, Tapu Lele fires off powerful terrain boosted psyshocks, and some pokemon such as solar power charizard and xurkitree use z sunny day and electric terrain to both boost their speed and increase the power of their attacks. Magearna controls speed with offensive trick room, and Tapu Fini enjoys toxic immunities for 5 turns with misty terrain. Credit should also be given to the concept of the FlashCAP Ampeater, a pokemon who sets up webs to facilitate a sweep. I believe that CAP26 could use either one of these niches or a new combination, possibly pairing an effect and a field effect like z sunny day solar power charizard does.
 
  • Name - King of the Drops
  • Description - A Pokemon that abuses stat drops, either by lowering the opponent's stats or by taking advantage of it's own drops.
  • Justification - This concept fits into the Actualization category because it aims to learn about the underutilized stat drops. It will likely have multiple options to abuse stat drops, giving it the option to help it's teammates or directly benefit itself.
  • Questions To Be Answered:
    • How much effect does stat-lowering have on an opponent?
    • How can we make CAP 26 a viable abuser of stat-lowering moves?
    • Why are moves that lower stats so uncommon?
    • Can a Pokemon remain effective when it's stats are lowered?
  • Explanation - There are many stat-lowering moves that could work well with this project. Support moves like Memento and Parting Shot could be used to create momentum and setup opportunities for teammates. Speed-lowering moves such as Icy Wind can help you get an advantage in battle. There are less obvious options which I think could be interesting. Heart Swap could be used to pass your own stat drops and cripple the opponent. Defiant and Competitive are viable but uncommon abilities which could definitely find a place in the meta by dissuading Defog, Intimidate, and the less common Sticky Web. There are a plethora of other stat-lowering moves with interesting effects that could also find a use on this pokemon.
 

G-Luke

Sugar, Spice and One For All
is a Community Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Name - Unconventional Conventionalist

Description - A Pokemon that utilizes unconventional methods to fulfill a role in the metagame, while still executing said role effectively

Justification - This is an Actualization concept. It seeks to centre around utilizing new and unexplored ways to perform classic roles within the metagame, such as wallbreaking, hazard control and tanks

Questions to be Answered -
  • What would be considered unconventional playstyles and strategies? How can we identify them?
  • Why are these strategies rarely seen within the current CAP Metagame? Is it because the methods themselves are proven to be lacklustre, or is because the Pokémon that currently have access to these methods lack the right tools to fully utilize them to its full effect?
  • What direction should we pursue with this concept, offensive or defensive, based on the unique challenges that may present itself for each situation?
  • Why should a Pokemon use these rarer strategies instead of more "tried and true" traditional means of executing roles? And if we give the Pokemon access to these strategies, how can incentivize the use of them, instead of just going the regular old route.
  • Can a Pokemon utilizing these methods be viable in the CAP Metagame, and can they compete with Pokemon that rely on more standard methods?
Explanation - Everyone knows how Pokemon generally do things. Wallbreakers use boosting moves or Choice items to break walls. Revenge killers use priority or Choice Scarf and get the job done. Even hazard removal is pretty basic - TornT comes in and Defogs. This concept asks us to challenge the status quo, and force us to look at underutilized, under appreciated, unconventional strategies to effectively catch the opponent off guard and defeat them. There are plenty of underutilized strategies in the metagame, unrepresented due to a variety of factors. Drifblim has access to both Unburden and Flare Boost, both uncommon ways in OU to use Speed Control and wallbreaking potential respectively (Hawlucha is the only viable user of the former, and the latter is stuck on Drifblim). Another example is the use of Berries to help gain defensive traction, instead of just recovering with a move or with the Regenerator ability. The best examples of this is Gluttony Curselax and Harvest Malaconda, but neither of which are currently viable in the metagame, also due to a variety of factors (flawed stat allocation, poor typing, limited movepool to take advantage of the strategy). These are just only some ways we can take rare means to do classic roles in the metagame, and allow them to be fully actualized.
 
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Dumb Sir

Banned deucer.
Name: Villain Number One
Description: A Pokemon that uses unconventional tactics and trickery rather than strength in order to catch the enemies by surprise!
Justification:
  • Actualization: When used and built around correctly, this Pokemon should reward smart play and creativity in order to out maneuver often stronger enemies. Mind games!
Questions To Be Answered:
  • What are some creative ways a Pokemon can use its typing, moves, and abilities in order to win games?
  • How can a gimmicky Pokemon be deigned in such a way that doesn't make it a one trick pony, but has options for counterplay?
  • Can a gimmicky Pokemon be viable and balanced while still maintaining its specialty?
Explanation: My inspiration for this concept came whenever I was browsing through some Pokemon and trying to make unique gimmicks for them. One in particular that caught my eye was Durant. Durant has the combination of the ability Truant and move Entrainment, letting it eliminate other Pokemon's abilities and neutering them with its own terrible one. Unfortunately, as I'm sure most people know, Truant Durant is only used on some fledgling Elo Bandit Truant-Trap Ubers teams. It's fun, but certainly not viable. Another gimmick mon I found was Zoroark. I find Zoroark to be extremely cool in the mind games that it can pull off, sometimes winning games just by getting into the opponents head. These examples aren't nearly good enough to be viable, so I want a mon that encapsulates this trickery. "This is going down in history!"
 
WIP

Name -
All-Terrain Mon

Description - A Pokemon that can abuse, support, and thrive in any terrain set.

Justification - This concept falls under Actualization and Archetype. (Actualization) The concept Pokemon will seek to expand upon what roles can succeed in a terrain based team, be it sweeper, or terrain boosted tank. (Archetype) The concept Pokemon will also seek to create a new (and hopefully) viable team composition.

Questions To Be Answered -
  • What does a terrain based team need to suceed in the competitive meta?
  • How can a Pokemon excel in every terrain?
  • What roles does a Pokemon on a Terrain based-team need to fulfill to become meta-relavent?

Explanation - My Concept came to me on the AAA ladder as i was fruitlessly trying to make a Electric terrain team work. There seemed to be enough there to make a team around it but they were shaky at best. Outside of OMs, the only mon i see that sort of fits into this category is Hawlucha, though that is as a more one dimensional sweeper. This concept seeks to create, and make a new team archetype on its shoulders, and bring it to a viable position, akin to rain teams in CAP.
 
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