Hi, want to post my thoughts about this. The Kitsunoh buff + Necturna gaining Sketch has absolutely shifted the metagame in a way I honestly can't stand. Want to post my thoughts on the mons mentioned.I think Gen 9 has a couple CAPs that need significant or minor changes to improve the state of the metagame. CAP overall is in a decent place I think, but a couple CAPs have had some real dominance recently. This slightly in response to the Power Creep thread as well; if CAPs are too good, its not unreasonable to scale them back.
I don't think the Speed nerf is going to do that much to temper the mon; if anything, it just makes it worse into Ogerpon which checking was one of the main wholesome things Chuggalong did for the builder. It has tools to dismantle most counters, making Chuggalong a situation where you run check items like Red Card, offmeta picks like HazeHawk, Tera at the right time with the right mon, or postion yourself where it can't set up on your mon. The issue I have found is the former two options can be tough on your building, and the ladder two are made inconsistent by Chuggalong's diverse pool of Tera types. It has too many good moves that make it unpredictable and also I think make its Tera type options way more versatile than it needs to be. Chuggalong doesn't always need STAB, has good STABs anyways, and cheesy tech like Taunt and Encore. We should go back to where Chuggalong started: with basically 4 viable core moves in Clangorous Soul, Surf, Sludge Bomb, and Clanging Scales. I don't think it needs the extra tech when the mandatory Substitute and Tera Blast probably give the mon enough tools to get creative. I like Chuggalong's gameplan with the main four moves it has, I think that set actually adds a good Pokemon to the meta, but the other options ruin a good thing.
The ONLY thing that keeps this mon in check is that its awkward as shit to fit on teams sometimes. Cresceidon is amazing, this is the best status spreader bar none. It Scalds you, it Twaves you, it can lower your SpA, and then uses the Attack drop, SpA Drop, or full paralysis turns to reinstate its Multiscale. Its fantastically synergistic but it also makes Cresceidon feel like a dice-roll Pokemon, where when it rolls well you lose so much and it gains three times what you just lost. Personally, I think the Encore sets are kind of cool since they have more counterplay but it still gives Cresceidon a way to handle set-up sweepers. I would remove Thunder Wave, ultimately because para hax sucks but sucks even more on a Pokemon that gets extra value when it can heal back to 100% on a full paralysis. Also guessing between Encore and Thunder Wave is annoying!
The buff overshot, but not by that much in my opinion. Kitsunoh does a lot of good and bad simultaneously. On the one hand, you have a reliable spinblocker into Levitate Libra! On the other hand, CAP's standout removal Pokemon that made spikestack more managable now has a new spinblocker to annoy it. This by itself I think would cancel itself out and Libra can tech into it with Bulletproof, but Kitsunoh is also really good at 1v1ing Pokemon with Encore and/or Strength Sap. Encore I was iffy about but didn't go with my gut and ban the move; we should fix that now and cut Encore. Strength Sap is just a good move when the Pokemon is good, but makes Kitsunoh dominant at shutting down any slower physical attacker, often by stacking burn. Moonlight would be a more fair replacement for the move while keeping Kitsunoh's supportive gameplan intact.
Giving Necturna Sketch back was the right call, but the early signs of Necturna show its a pretty terrifying Pokemon. It has a lot of better set-up options, some of its BP woes of the past from lacking good Ghost STAB can be alleviated somewhat from Tera, it has a new offensive tools like Rage Fist and even Salt Cure. Its probably too early to hit Necturna with the nerf bat, but its a Pokemon we should have a continued conversation about what that nerf could look like to make sure that Necturna can keep its fun Sketch gimmick without being a pain.
Of all the CAPs, Arghonaut is the one who does the most good for the metagame while being absolutely ridiculous. A reliable and consistent Unaware user is a beautiful thing, but Arghonaut does define the metagame in a way I think is slightly unhealthy. It's winrate has been climbing as balance has shaken out and much like in Gen 8 its now the Pokemon to beat. What you are facing an Arghonaut, your gameplan truly revolves around either luring the shit out of it or finding the way to beat it down while not letting it get up too many layers or Knock too many items. It's just so efficient at what it does with its perfect moveset for its role. I think the moveset perfection is a good thing for Arghonaut, so really if we ever change anything it would be stats.
I think Venomicon feels more manageable now even if Knock Off is annoying as ever, and before Kitsunoh/Necturna buffs Equilibra was definitely too good and consistent at what it does, but with better tools against it I suspect it will be in a perfect state and continue to bring its wholesome reliability to the builder.
Very good at what it does, no doubt. It really struggles to setup but once it gets that free turn vs. something like Caribolt it's really hard to stop. It's cooverage allows it to beat a vast majority of the tier while stuff like Tera Flying buys turns vs. Equilibra and Tera Psychic muscles past Arghonaut. I think it's slightly held in check due to its 4MSS between Clangorous Soul, Stored Power, STAB / Tera Blast / Coverage, and coverage though. Removing Stored Power would probably be the best solution here, meaning Arghonaut and Mollux become solid checks.
I believe this overshot its buff way too much. There's a difference between, "I'm viable now. Yay!" and "I literally warp the meta by being the tier's best spinblocker, setup disruptor, and progress maker. I did not like the idea of Trace at all entering the buff process as the ability was going to have a profound effect on the meta. A mostly unhealthy effect. But since that won't be changed, removing Strength Sap would definitely be a good move. This allows Kitsunoh to still serve as a useful disruptor with Encore while severely cutting into its longevity and preventing it from stonewalling should be checks like Arghonaut.
Bringing back Sketch was definitely the right move, but there needs to be some bans on what can be used. Immediately ban Rage Fist. This move is just way too strong on a Mon with decent bulk, ways to weaken attacks with Will-O-Wisp, recovery with Leech Seed, and a typing that punishes a lot of common types like Water, Ground, and Electric. SpDef investment turns Equlibra to absolute Rage Fist fodder. Salt Cure could also be considered, but isn't as immediately pressing.
Don't understand the calls that this thing is broken. It's strength mainly comes from perfect Meta conditions for it ( like the rise of Chuggalong and fall of Hemogoblin and Krilowatt) and less from being broken. It's an excellent progress maker with great utility, but it has plenty of counterplay such as Cresceidon, Gliscor, Garganacl, Snaelstrom, and more. It's not hard to Toxic this thing, which pretty much cripples it for the rest of the game. It's an excellent glue Mon that saves balance some teamslots, but not broken. Also, being Necturna fodder after Will-O-Wisp is pretty bad. I think no action.
Well, hope you enjoyed reading. Please do something about Kit and Necturna. Those Mons are so obnoxious.
Garganacl: Navigating between two Salt Cure users is a nightmare without Covert Cloak, since there’s little that can actually threaten both of these Pokemon at the same time. Like with Cresceidon, these Pokemon switch into eachother extremely well.
Equilibra
Venomicon
Hemogoblin
Revenankh
Miasmaw
Colossoil
Snaelstrom
Krilowatt
Stratagem
Aurumoth
Syclant
Cawmodore
Caribolt
Plasmanta
Malaconda
Naviathan
Mollux
Volkraken
Astrolotl
Pyroak
Smokomodo
Tomohawk
Voodoom
Fidgit
Jumbao
Kerfluffle
Saharaja
Cyclohm
Chromera
Crucibelle
Pajantom
Venomicon-Epilogue
, Garganacl
, and Dragapult
are the most used non-CAP Pokémon.
CAP35 Playtest 
Alomomola
Gliscor
