CAP37 - Part 4 - Role Discussion

[Amamama]

What are the specific interactions that are most important for CAP37 to succeed? Versus team archetypes? Specific Pokemon?

In terms of concept I believe CAP 37 is successful if it is capable of abusing Beak Blasts conditional burn effect or the threat of its effect to make progress.
Versus more offensive archetypes this includes forcing lose lose trades/pin situations vs physical wallbreakers like Zamazenta, Revenakh, or Ogerpon where these attackers might be forced to stay in bc the team doesn’t have a good switch in and thus eat a burn and/or SE STAB
Against slower archetypes it can abuse the same offensive threats, but also cripple defensive pieces that use weak contact utility like Libra or Arghonaut with burn or removing their item to set up its teammates to succeed.
Overall the typing seems pretty well positioned to pressure hazard removal with its high value STAB options and thus could function really well as setter.
Having guaranteed taunt is also interesting with its great neutral offensive coverage which could allow it to pressure defensive pieces that require recovery to stay healthy or want to use utility to make progress.
Taunt also might force switches or burn through contact moves.
Also regarding Beak Blasts effect I believe that it will more often take effect against more offensive teams that are more likely to be forced into a trade when they don’t have a safe switch in.

What synergies can we explore with CAP37 given our typing and Beak Blast?

This typing seems great for patching ground and ghost weak defensive/pivoting cores centered around poison and fire types like Mollux, Slowking Galar or Pecharunt, which like a ground immune and ghost resistant partner and are great at wearing down the opponent through constant pivoting once the opponent’s items have been removed. Meanwhile 37 enjoys being pivoted in safely.
The burn effect might also be able to aid hex users like Pech and Pult to overwhelm defensive answers like Equilibra.
Lastly as I mentioned, against more offensive teams trading for a burn against an offensive thread might open up opportunities for 37s teammates to take over a game if an offensive check has been crippled, letting bulky cleaners like Zama, Kingambit or Hemogoblin set up and sweep more easily.

 

[Guingil]

What are the specific interactions that are most important for CAP37 to succeed? Versus team archetypes? Specific Pokemon?​

Only answering this because the synergies have been adequately described already. I feel like typical scenarios for CAP37 will play out in the following paths, with the simplification that its matchups (MUs) are generally good or bad, and not mixed, which would be the more realistic case (like Gholdengo, which is weak to Dark but we can't easily switch into because of the threat of Make it Rain).

Green is our ideal scenario, which is unlikely to occur very often because opponents will be playing around the threat of Beak Blast. The green scenario might emerge in the endgame when opponent resources are depleted to the level that they have to allow us to follow this path, to bring in their favorable MUs safely. This is seen in Beak Blast getting some burns during the endgame in STABmons. Another case is: if CAP37 can be knocked out by a contact attacker (either due to low health or the contact attacker being strong enough), can still trade its life for a burn. That is a last hurrah which allows 37 to output value even when weakened, or as a roadbump against setup contact attackers (Iron Defense Zamazenta, Bulk Up Revenankh, Belly Drum Cawmodore, etc), similar to how Custap Araquanid uses Endeavour after having achieved its Webs.

Using Beak Blast is not the only option in the ideal scenario, as it is also possible for a desirable MU to attempt a non-contact or a status move in this. Taunt is already guaranteed to us as a universal move for Dark types, and the threat of it on slower Pokemon can shut down another avenue of counterplay, leading most of our interactions to lead into what I believe is the more likely scenario, which is colored in yellow.

The majority of our interactions in the early- and middlegame will be us getting a lot of switches from the threat of Beak Blast. I think getting the most out of these scenarios is the best way to make CAP37 succeed in its concept. Big damage to the switch-in, some long-lasting utility like hazards, or Knock Off, are examples of progress we can make in these scenarios, which will require opponents to spend turns healing up or removing hazards. If we set hazards, we can punish attempts to remove them with Rapid Spin using Beak Blast. Our neutral-to-positive matchups against Equilibra, Great Tusk, and Snaelstorm help in this. We can also soften up our endgame MUs with damage or hazards. Flying/Dark has great neutral coverage, and we can prevent healing using Taunt.

I think CAP37 intrinsically matches up well into Stall, because of Taunt, the possibility of big damage, and the 24 PP of Beak Blast, which IMO is its most underrated aspect. Into HO, the +6 priority burn threat into physical attackers, and the fact that we force switches, is pretty good as well. On the other hand, balance teams or those that are based on switching are more even matchups. Us preventing easy clicking of Knock Off, U-turn, or Flip turn, as well as possibly preventing Rapid Spin, are all factors in our favour; but we are also vulnerable to Rocks, lots of special attackers, as well as status indifferent mons like Gliscor/Garganacl.

Given our best functioning when we are at maximum health (the Beak Blast chicken game is best when 37 knows it lives, and we keep our health by hard switching out of unfavorable matchups), I believe slow-pivoting where we lose health is not ideal. Fast/offensive pivoting interacts awkwardly with the negative priority of Beak Blast. Given our general awkwardness around switching in as well, where Knock removes our Boots but we want to target Pokémon that use Knock, we will not have too many switch-in opportunities to make us a reliable, repeatable hazard setter/Rapid Spin preventer (like Gholdengo) in long games.

Thus, I believe big damage is an elegant path that synergizes with Beak Blast, can leave a big impact in the relatively fewer turns we will get to be in, given our SR weakness + Knock targeting, and also works with Taunt to prevent healing to break through slower, bulkier mons.​

 

[a fairy]

more quick responses, sorry! kinda skipped the second question since i'm real weak at that kinda stuff.

What are the specific interactions that are most important for CAP37 to succeed? Versus team archetypes? Specific Pokemon?
We need to not be so good against physical attackers that we just force them out every time. Sure, we're probably pretty good against, I dunno, DD/Roost/EQ/ESpeed DNite, or like, some hypothetical Psychic-type physical attacker, but I think if we spend too much juice being Zamazenta or Great Tusk's worst nightmare, then we don't become the conditional Beak Blast attacker, we become "physical attacker switch out". I'd actually like us to see a bit of pressure on the special side - I don't want us to be a 'mon where we just watch a special attacker switch in because we've spent so much time dooming every physical attacker. Let's see some way to make a special attacker not want to bother with us more often than not, even with Special-leaning weaknesses, to encourage physical attackers to be the one to deal with us.

What synergies can we explore with CAP37 given our typing and Beak Blast?
Is it weird to think that Dengo comes to mind? Dengo despises Tusk/Treads and most other physical attackers barring a Fighting immunity, since it messes with most of the ways that Dengo can stop hazards going up. Meanwhile, it feels like CAP37 is kinda not a fan of Corv, given that you two kinda just sit on each other and accomplish not much of anything, a 'mon that Dengo is happy to mess up the day of. Maybe I'm way off base, I dunno, but I like Gholdengo conceptually here, I think CAP37 can help with Dengo's desire to keep hazards up on the field.

 

[earthflax]

more thoughts :D

The most succinct way that I can answer both questions is to completely echo what Guingil says above: the specific interactions that we should prioritize in terms of both functionality and synergy is those which maximize our early- and late-game utility and overall progress-making. This can be accomplished in many different ways in the remaining stages, which I think is also awesome, and it ensures that we aren’t useless in the case that our central element is mitigated in some way. The synergies we look to, both in our own kit and with CAP37’s teammates, should also have a focus on this aspect.

I think that will do it for this stage; we’ve definitely defined a lot that was previously ambiguous, and we have a pretty clear idea on the best ways to move forward from here. Gonna pass it to viol and bass for Ability Discussion now!