CAP 18 CAP 18 - Part 6 - Stat Spread Submissions

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Da Pizza Man

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Final Submission

80/50/80/126/120/92 (548 BST)
PT: 118.764 (Above Average)
ST: 177.843 (Excellent)
PS: 77,0122 (Below Average)
SS: 186.714 (Excellent)
BSR: 304.0114 (Very Good)

HP: 80 HP gives us the potential to avoid OHKOs from most of the pokemon that we are trying to threaten, even at minimal investment, at worst being 2HKOd by them. It also is low enough to let us be threatened by some of the pokemon we are trying to get threatend by. No matter what, we will always be 4HKOd by Blissey and Chansey and we wont be able to deal much damage to it in return. It also stops us from creating 101HP subs, even if we have max investment in HP

Attack: Not that much to say here. Its increadibly obvious that we all want to have low attack since CAP18 needs to be a special attacker, plus if I made it any lower it could have been BSR abuse.

Defense: I am really disappointed how we thought special bulk would be better than physical bulk, but I think its the other way around. Anyways I decided on 94 because it would let us be unable to be 2HKOd by some of the physical threats to the core like Azumarill and prevents us from being OHKOD by Scarfed Garchomp (Unless its using Earthquake.) Non scarfed garchomp is honestly not much of a threat to the core anyways.

Special Attack: This Special Attack lets us OHKO Aegislash with Overheat even with minimal special attack investment

Special Defense: With this Special Defense we would be able to prevent being OHKOd and in some cases 2HKOd by Aegislash's Shadow ball. I dont have much else to say here.

Speed: I gave it this speed so that we can outspeed threats like Aegislash and non choice scarfed Excadrill and get the Analaytic boost on pokemon like Garchomp, I tried to find some middle ground so we can hopefully outspeed some threats that we need to outspeed and get the analytic boost on pokemon we dont mind getting outsped by.

Feedback and criticism is encouraged
 
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ganj4lF

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Final Submission

I like the general idea behind Salt the Flesh's and Dragonblaze's spread, but since I'm not 100% satisfied by their choices, I guess, I'm going to submit a spread of my own.

First of all, a bit of discussion. While it seems to me that we're all on the same page when talking about offensive capabilities (125-135 SpA with a Speed that, while not excellent, allows to comfortably outspeed the threats we need to without being too high to become hard to revenge kill), I noticed that lots of submitters seem to like a high HP stat compared to a lowish one. To me, this doesn't really make sense. Let me explain.

A high HP stat means investing EVs into HP is subject to heavy diminishing returns in terms of overall bulkiness, while investing into a defense (or not investing them at all) becomes increasingly attractive. Both of them are not really good for this CAP, since the first makes us too focused on some targets (SpD: Aegislash, Def: Physical Fairies and Ground types), and the second tends to make us a fast and bulky sweeper compared to an offensive pivot, which is what we want to achieve. Conversely, keeping the HP low while giving decent-to-good defenses to the CAP from both sides is a very big incentive to go for some variation of 2XX HP / 252 SpA / YY Spe, which to me is exactly what we want from this pokemon: an offensive pivot capable to put a lot of offensive pressure while taking decently-but-not-amazingly well hits by both sides, from the threats we need it to handle.

So, without further ado, my spread suggestion.

75 HP / 50 Atk / 90 Def / 135 SpA / 110 SpD / 95 Spe (555 BST)
PT: 128.1
PS: 78.6
ST: 157.3
SS: 208.4
BSR: 311.9

I don't want to discuss much the offensive capabilities of this spread, since they're basically the same of alexwolf's spread and I'm sure he will explain this part much better that I would do. Let me explain the defensive part instead. The spread reaches (roughly) the same level of bulkiness of 100/80/100 when heavily / fully invested in HP, which I think it's a great benchmark for what we're trying to achieve with CAP18. Assuming 252 HP EVs:
  • Never OHKO'd by Azumarill's CB Waterfall (73.7 - 86.7%)
  • Never 2HKO'd by Azumarill's CB Play Rough (41.2 - 48.5%)
  • Never killed by 252/252+ LO Aegislash's Shadow Ball + Shadow Sneak (53.9 - 63.8% + 29.6 - 35.3%)
  • Takes reasonably low damage from strong, Specially based Fairy attacks (e.g. 252+ Specs Pixilate Hyper Voice 36.4 - 42.9%)
So, since the general bulkiness is so similar to submissions like alexwolf's one, why should we opt for a solution like mine? Well, simply because if you remove the HP investment, it just becomes much worse:
  • CB Azumarill's Waterfall against zero investment 75/90: (89.6 - 105.4%)
  • Same Waterfall against zero investment 100/80: (84.4 - 99.4%)
  • LO Shadow Ball from 252+ Aegislash against zero investment 75/110: (65.6 - 77.6%)
  • LO Shadow Ball from...the same Aegislash vs zero investment 100/100: (60.9 - 72.1%)
What does that mean? It does mean that, while achieving basically the same effects / benchmarks of other spreads, we get the added benefit of lessening the power of 252 SpA / 252+ Spe (which looks a quite viable set, with huge SpA, decent Spe, and a great ability to punish switches) while "convincing" players to actually invest in a bulkier, slower, pivot-like Pokemon, which is exactly what we're trying to achieve. This benefit is obviously in addition to the fact that CAP will take more damage from Seismic Toss (and cannot make 100 HP Subs), thus making it worse against Blobs (it's not that relevant anyway, but still nice to have).

tl;dr: yeah, this is a very elaborate way to say I really like alexwolf's spread; however, I think my own spread just does it better without losing anything too important, thus it should be preferred (if I didn't missed something).
 
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alexwolf

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If someone prefers making pure offensive sets less viable, or getting less closer to the BSR limits, gang4lF's spread is great. However, i don't believe that pure offensive sets should be discouraged and with my spread the bulky ev spread would be preferred anyway, so i don't think it's a big deal.
Salt the Flesh said:
Other Thoughts: I want to reiterate this from my HP explanation: High HP stats are bad. If we make the HP stat too high, that lessens Chansey's/Blissey's ability to beat us with Seismic Toss. It's especially worrying when base HP could go over 100, as we get access to 101 HP Substitutes, which basically kills the blobs' chance of actually beating us 1v1.
This is just not true. 101 Subs are completely irrelevant on a wallbreaker and pivot, which is what we are building. We are not making a staller or a boosting sweeper, so the blobs can easily beat us even with 101 HP subs.
 
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I just wanted to stop by and say that some of these submissions seem a bit lacking in the Sp. Attack stat. Don't get me wrong; 112-135 is a lot, but we really need something more like 145 base Sp. Attack to OHKO Aegis without a life orb or specs with a super-effective STAB fire blast. For this reason, I put my support behind jas' spread.
 
Final Submission

93 HP/45 ATK/62 DEF/142 SpA/120 SpD/93 SPD/(555 BST)

Physical Tankiness: 102.68(Above Average)
Special Tankiness: 195(Excellent)
Physical Sweepiness: 70.7549(Poor)
Special Sweepiness: 211.79(Excellent)
Base Stat Rating: 316.8794(Very Good)

OK. Let's have a look at this thing.

Physical Tankiness

Right, the big weakness of this spread, a fairly low PT rating. While this is made less problematic with it being a Fire type that can burn things, the fact remains that this CAP can't switch into phyiscal attackers very well. This is fine, other team mates can handle the physical threats. Basically the only Aegislash that this spread can never switch into is Life Orb Physical, and as I recall being mentioned by somebody, if we force physical Aegislash to counter CAP, then the CAP's done it's job.

  • 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 0 Def CAP: 205-243 (52.5 - 62.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 0 Def CAP: 118-139 (30.2 - 35.6%) -- 33% chance to 3HKO

Bulky Leftovers Physical Aegislash can hit it, but it immediately risks getting burned and crippled with massive damage.

  • 4 SpA CAP Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 228-270 (70.3 - 83.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

So yes, basically the mere presence of this CAP forces Aegislash to run a much worse set then usual.

Special Tankiness

Here we go, the main element of the Pokemon if you ask me. A high Special Defense boosted by a decent HP stat. The most dangerous and powerful attack Combo Aegislash can pull off fails to 2HKO. These calculations, just as an example, are made with a spread of 124 HP/128 SpA/252 SPD with a Timid Nature, it can be fine tuned as I'll show later.

252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 124 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 177-211 (49.4 - 58.9%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO
4 Atk Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 124 HP / 0 Def CAP: 118-140 (32.9 - 39.1%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO

If it tries to King's Shield, it risks getting KO'd anyways, because with Life Orb recoil it's moved into OHKO range even in Shield Form with Fire Blast. But of course, there's plenty of Special threats this can can just laugh at all day.

Special Sweepiness

Here we go. The big one. First, let's look at that Speed Stat. 93 is an important number. It's 1 point higher then Landorus-T, the fastest Ground type we want to threaten. This is a very deliberate thing. It means that the CAP is pretty much required to max speed and give a speed boosting nature in order to function right. This, of course, ties into why it's Special Attack is so high. You need to max Speed in order to ensure you outspeed the Ground type threats, and you need to invest in at least some bulk in order to handle the special threats properly. So that leaves very little room to actually invest in Special Attack. Which is where the high stat+Analytic comes in! A high innate Special Attack means the cap doesn't need to invest much, and Analytic helps out when they inevitably switch out to a different Pokemon only to get hit hard.

Threats

Let's go down the threatlist to see how my spread handles some of them, I already covered Aegislash, so on to the next ones.

Gengar:
  • 252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 124 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 146-173 (40.7 - 48.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  • 128 SpA Analytic CAP Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Gengar: 291-343 (111 - 130.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The CAP can easily switch in on Gengar, avoid the 2HKO, and hit back with something rediculous thanks to Analytic.

252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Thunderbolt vs. 124 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 221-260 (61.7 - 72.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Thunderbolt is a problem, admitedly. But if the CAP's good enough to force Gengar to give up better coverage for Thunderbolt, well, it's already won.

Mawile:

  • 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 124 HP / 0 Def CAP: 204-241 (56.9 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 128 SpA CAP Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Mawile: 368-434 (121 - 142.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The CAP can switch in on Mega Mawlie and put it in quite a tight spot. If it attacks, it risks getting outsped and KO'd. If trys to Sucker Punch it risks getting burned. And if it switches out then a teamate gets hit by a powerful Analytic boosted attack. Mega Mawlie is not put in a good place at all.

Azumarill
  • 252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 124 HP / 0 Def CAP: 177-208 (49.4 - 58.1%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power burned Azumarill Waterfall vs. 124 HP / 0 Def CAP: 175-207 (48.8 - 57.8%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO

Azumarill is a bit riskier then most, CAP can't come in on it through switching, but it can easily scare it out with a burn if it comes in after Azumaril has KO'd something.


Mega Charizard Y
  • 252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 124 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 130-154 (36.3 - 43%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  • 128 SpA Analytic CAP Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y in Sun: 204-240 (68.4 - 80.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I think the results speak for themselves. If Mega Charizard goes Modest, then it's outsped and still 2HKO'd. It just can't win.


Heatran

  • 252+ SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 124 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 184-218 (51.3 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 128 SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 336-396 (87 - 102.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

Even with Earth Power Heatran can't OHKO the CAP, while the CAP will outspeed and 2HKO. Defensive variants actually fare worse.

4 SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 124 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 140-166 (39.1 - 46.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
128 SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 246-290 (63.7 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

And scarf'ed Heatran.. well...

  • 128 SpA Analytic CAP Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 20 SpD Heatran: 428-506 (110.8 - 131%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Analytic hurts.

Ground types

Each of the Ground types CAP threatens is pretty much the same. They can't come in on CAP and it will outspeed and KO with SE STAB.

Item and spreads

The spread I've been using is largely hypothetical, lacking any sort of boosting item. So what else can CAP do?

Choice Scarf

A Choice Scarf is perfectly viable, and actually a pretty good item for the spread I've been using as an example. Plus Scarf Excadrill will be surprised when its still KO'd.

Choice Specs

You want power? Oh boy does this thing have power.

252 SpA Choice Specs CAP Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 404-476 (124.6 - 146.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Of course, I wouldn't think that maxing SpA would be the best for a Specs set. It already has a ton of power, so why not use that extra strength for better bulk?

Leftovers.

The middle of the road item. Giving it a nice HP cushion and letting more EVs go into offense.

Assault Vest

I saved the best for last.

252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest CAP: 121-142 (37 - 43.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest CAP: 146-174 (44.6 - 53.2%) -- 28.1% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest CAP: 87-103 (26.6 - 31.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

Yeah, Assault Vest is a monster on this spread. You can invest in physical bulk or more power with this.
 
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There are four sets that stand out to me:
Albacore's: 108 HP / 42 Atk / 85 Def / 128 SpA / 108 SpD / 89 Spe (560 BST)
Alexwolf's: 100 HP / 45 Atk / 80 Def / 135 SpA / 100 SpD / 95 Spe (555 BST)
Clakenator007: 92 HP/ 60 ATK/ 70 DEF/ 130 SpA/ 110 SpD/ 103 Spe (565)
jas61292: 110 HP / 47 Atk / 65 Def / 147 SpA / 95 SpD / 76 Spe (540 BST)

Now, the first two on this list are fairly similar. The important part, to me, is the base speed. They let you outspeed most all of the ground types we are supposed to threaten, so we can beat them 1v1. I'll get back to these in a second.

CLakenator's spread is the most offensive, which I like. We are making an offensive core, after all. I also like that with AV it still tanks the Evil Shadow Balls we fear so much. However, I'm not sure how I feel about having to run AV to tank the special hits, so I'd rather see something more versatile. (By which I mean, is able to run multiple sets.)

Jas61292's set, however, is my favorite. It lacks the speed necessary to beat Excadrill and Landorus-T, but it gets better Bulk and Power in return. Now the question is, how important is it to outspeed Excadrill and Lando-T? I was quite firm in my belief that we needed to outspeed these mons, until I tried to make a spread that was to my liking with that restriction. Then, I was thinking about what lowering speed would lose us. We would be outsped by Excadrill, Lando-T, Max speed+ Aegi, and MegaChomp. Now I will explain why I think the lowered speed will gain us more than we lose.

Excadrill would outspeed us with scarf anyway. Secondly, we can check those Excadrill with Luke just as easily as CAP could, because Luke would be killing him the same way: having a slightly higher base speed and using a SE attack. You can debate the merits of having to use Luke to KO Exca, but I feel this would be a rather small loss.

Lando-T also would still outspeed with scarf. Also, if Luke runs Ice Punch, he can OHKO Lando after SR and avoiding the Intimidate. He can do this two ways: by coming in after Lando does, or boosting on Lando's switch. It may seem unreasonable to give up Earthquake to accomplish this to some, but I will answer that too.

As was already said, max speed+ Aegi is rather unimportant. This post is getting rather long, so I won't repeat the reasoning.

MegaChomp is fairly rare. It's also not on the Threat List, and a speed of ~95 won't help against normal Chomp anyway.

Finally, if we use Alexwolf's set as proposed, with 60 speed evs, we won't outspeed Excadrill or MegaChomp anyway. This means that we have to choose between beating these ground types 1v1 or handling other threats better. Of course this is likely to happen with any spread, and it may even be seen as beneficial, but I think it is to our benefit to be able to better handle the other threats better and leave the ground types to other teammates, because I feel it will be more efficient to outsource coverage on these mons.

Why is that? Mainly, because two are doubly weak to Ice, while the other is easily checked by Luke anyway, unless it is scarfed which CAP will fail to do regardless. Thus, I believe it serves our purposes better to have a team member that can serve as a reliable check to most if not all of all these ground types' sets, rather than only non-scarfed ones. Not only that, but this will likely require only one mon, so it is efficient in team slots as well as CAP stat distribution.

--------------------------------------
Whew! In that case, what speed would be ideal, if we won't be having a speed stat to beat Excadrill? The next fastest mon on the Threat List is Jolly Azumarill; however, that wouldn't bring the speed down enough for me, and like Hasty Aegi that would be less optimal anyway. That gets us down to Togekiss at base 80. I would feel comfortable at base 81 speed, and it still allows Jas' base SpAtk of 147. It also lets us outspeed min speed Heatran without investment, which Jas' spread does not.

This post is already pretty long, so I will end it here. I may come back with opinions on bulk, but for now I don't see any glaring problems with others' bulk spreads.

TL;DR: The optimal base speed as I see it is base 81.
 
In all honesty, Choice Scarf is barely used though. I guess Scarf Exadrill and Landorus-T might become popular counter to CAP if it's good enough, but CAP could always counter-counter with a Choice Scarf of it's own. Fire/Water is a powerful STAB combination with some high powered moves and average base speed could be risen up to good with a Choice Scarf.
 

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Final Submission

98 HP / 51 Attack / 85 Defense / 128 Sp. Attack / 110 Sp. Defense / 93 Speed (565 Total)
PT: 143.96 (Good)
ST: 185.48 (Excellent)
PS: 78.411 (Below Average)
SS: 190.22 (Excellent)
Total BSR: 328.4982 (Very Good)

And as you can see below, I feel that Leftovers will be very viable on this CAP, as it needs its bulk and Analytic renders Life Orb somewhat unnecessary. In case other items see use, however, I included side notes in the damage calculations noting what will happen if this CAP does NOT hold Lefties.

PT justification: Notable calculations:
252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Claw vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 160-190 (47.4 - 56.3%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
This looks unappealing, but since Aegislash-Shield is easily 2HKOed at worst (see SS Justification for more), we have no need to worry. Besides:
252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 93-109 (27.5 - 32.3%) -- 57.4% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Thus, we won't take more than 88.6% damage with 1 Claw and 1 Sneak, and will rid Aegislash of the battle right then and there.

252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall or Superpower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 273-322 (81 - 95.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP:
136-162 (40.3 - 48%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Ouch! Well, that's what you would say if you forgot we are faster than Azumarill and can burn it. Thus, even if it Choice-locks itself into Aqua Jet…
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power burned Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 68-81 (20.1 - 24%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery (guaranteed 5HKO without it)
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power burned Azumarill Waterfall or Superpower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 136-161 (40.3 - 47.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (or without it)

252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 189-223 (56 - 66.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
But don't forget we OHKO Mega-Maw with Flamethrower. And make its SP fail with a Will-O-Wisp. Then:
252+ Atk Huge Power burned Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 94-111 (27.8 - 32.9%) -- 85.6% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery (guaranteed 4HKO without it)

And here's some other nice things we can live:
252 Atk Mega Pinsir Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 284-336 (84.2 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (or without it)
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 283-334 (83.9 - 99.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (or without it)
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 270-318 (80.1 - 94.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (or, once again, without it)
252+ Atk Mega Charizard X Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: 274-324 (81.3 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (cannot be OHKOed even without it)

On the physical side, we are certainly not the bulkiest, nor do we need to be. The key is, quite simply, to not be 2HKOed by Aegislash or Azumarill. Mawile isn't a huge problem, as it dies to a single Flamethrower. It also fears Will-O-Wisp, as does Azumarill; neither will want their Attack halved. Mawile fears it more, however, as using WoW makes its infamous Sucker Punch fail. The other mentioned attacks after that are just an added bonus, as all 3 pokes have plenty of prevalence in OU right now. Furthermore, all 3 of them eat Lucario alive, and Latias handles Talonflame but is toast if she can't OHKO the other two.

ST justification: Notable calculations:
252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 147-174 0 HP / 4 SpD CAP: (43.6 - 51.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (9% chance to 2HKO without it)
Unfortunately, with the above Aegislash spread, we are nearly always revenge-killed by a Shadow Sneak.
4 Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def CAP: (20.7 - 24.9%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
(43.6+43.6+20.7-12)=95.9; this is the maximum we are left with. However, this should not be a concern; see SS Justification for more details.

252 SpA Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD CAP: 135-160 (40 - 47.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (or without it)
252 SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD CAP: 117-138 120-142 (35.6 - 42.1%) -- 88.4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (guaranteed 3HKO without it)
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD CAP: 140-165 (41.5 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (or without it)
4 SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD CAP: 150-178 (44.5 - 52.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (22.3% chance to 2HKO without it)

What can we safely switch into?
4 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD CAP: 63-75 (18.6 - 22.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery (possible 5HKO without it)
4 SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD CAP: 84-100 (24.9 - 29.6%) -- 87-103 (25.8 - 30.5%) -- 1.7% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recover (guaranteed 4HKO without it)
4 SpA Togekiss Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD CAP: 46-55 (13.6 - 16.3%) -- possible 7HKO (possibly the worst move ever with Leftovers recovery)

The key is to be able to switch in on the aforementioned Special attackers, as with my spread, we can easily 2HKO many of them at worst, and OHKO at best. As for the Fairies, Lucario's bad Sp. Defense means he has a tough time handling them despite being resistant. While CAP 18 probably won't be able to hit Fairies too hard, it can at least tank them, and eliminate Clefable, which I will get to later. (Seriously, though, if you ever find yourself in a CAP 18 vs. Sylveon or Togekiss situation, bring a sleeping bag.)

PS justification: Obviously, CAP 18 is not supposed to be a physical attacker. Since 565 is undoubtedly a high Base Stat Total, 60 is ideally as low as I wanted to go for a useless stat, as I do not want to be misconceived as BSR abusing. (Malaconda's 40 Sp. Attack, for example, is justified because its Base Stat Total of 500 is low by CAP standards.) However, no CAP besides Aurumoth has a BST over 570, and we all know what happened during the Aurumoth process. Thus, I wanted to keep that the maximum benchmark. I still feel like I may be pushing it by making the Attack 51, but making it any higher would compromise too much.
On a side note, this is just enough to 2HKO Mega Charizard X. See the Hydro Pump calculation below, and then:
0- Atk CAP Aqua Jet vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 22-27 (7.3 - 9%) -- possibly the worst move ever
Still 2HKOes it without fainting us, but that is exceedingly situational.
Also, 51 makes the BST 565, which is a more aesthetically-pleasing number than 564 or 569.

SS justification: Notable calculations:
252+ SpA CAP 18 Overheat vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 324-384 (100 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Analytic CAP Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 356-422 (109.8 - 130.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA CAP Thunderbolt or Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Azumarill: 256-302 (63.3 - 74.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (sure hope CAP 18 gets at least one of these in its movepool)
252+ SpA CAP Hydro Pump or Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Excadrill: 372-438 (102.7 - 120.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Analytic CAP Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Gengar: 322-379 (122.9 - 144.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA CAP Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Mawile: 332-392 (109.2 - 128.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Analytic CAP Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y in Sun: 224-266 (75.1 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 270-320 (69.9 - 82.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-T: 468-552 (122.5 - 144.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Analytic CAP Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard X: 291-343 (97.6 - 115.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA CAP Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Garchomp: 448-528 (125.1 - 147.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

This is a 3-part calculation:
252+ SpA CAP Analytic Fire Blast or Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 196-232 (49.7 - 58.8%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA CAP Fire Blast or Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 151-178 (38.3 - 45.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA CAP Fire Blast or Hydro Pump vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 102-120 (25.8 - 30.4%) -- 1.3% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

(49.7+38.3+25.8-12)=101.8, so Clefable is always 3HKOed even if it uses Cosmic Power or Calm Mind. In fact, if we run Timid over Modest and hold a Wise Glasses (of all things), it does exactly the same thing. Sadly this doesn't work on Sylveon or Togekiss.

The reason Sp. Attack is 128 exactly is to guarantee the 3HKO on Clefable, and the Overheat OHKO on Aegislash-Shield without Analytic. It also takes on those pesky Ground-types 1-on-1. 93 Speed is necessary to outspeed Excadrill, Landorus-T, and Mega Garchomp. I considered 103 Speed to beat Landorus-I and normal Garchomp, but Latias already handles them to some extent. Moreover, letting this CAP handle them would break the BSR limit, and I would have to compromise other things.
 
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Final Submission

98/50/80/135/110/92 => BST - 565

PT - 135.8 (good)

ST - 185.5 (excellent)

PS - 77.01 (below average)

SS - 200.4 (fantastic)

BSR - 328.9

The reasoning for each individual stat

HP - Using the same reasoning as Deck Knight, CAP should be threatened by the blobs, so a breakable substitute is a must. I don't foresee this CAP investing fully in HP regardless, but I don't want to give it the opportunity to abuse subs either.

Atck - No competitively viable pokemon has an attck stat less than 50 (not including oddballs like the pink blobs and Wobbafet). 50 is thus the minimum that can reasonably be set without being BSR abuse in my mind.

Def - Will be OHKO by an earthquake from Excadrill and Landorus, but will be more than likely be able to survive 2 EQ from Hippowdon if burnt, while OHKOing back. Can switch into a Play Rough from Mega Mawile, set up a burn and survive any attack while OHKOing back. It is important to get the burn or else be KO'd by a sucker punch.

Sp. Atck - See calcs below
Timid nature with LO vs Aegislash - Guaranteed OHKO with Fireblast. Will also OHKO max HP/SpDef Hippowdon with hydro pump

Modest nature with Leftovers vs Aegislash - 31.3% chance to OHKO. Guaranteed OHKO with Overheat.

Timid nature with Leftovers vs Aegislash - Guaranteed 2HKO (80.2-95%)

Modest nature with LO vs Aegislash - Guaranteed OHKO with Fireblast

Basically, I wanted the player the player to have to choose between ridiculous power and the durability that everyone wants.


Sp. Def - 252+ SpA Aegislash vs uninvested CAP - Small chance to 2HKO without leftovers, guaranteed to survive 2HKO with leftovers. Leftovers set still leaves open the probability of taking 2 shadow balls and then losing to a shadow sneak. Assault vest or a priority move on the modest leftovers set remedies this problem. Uninvested CAP will also beat Gengar 1 v. 1 as even a LO modest t-bolt can't OHKO.

Spe - Timid allows CAP to outspeed all non-scarfed variants of Excadrill and Landorus-T as well as Adamant MegaChomp (speed ties Jolly MegaChomp). Fully invested neutral still allows for outspeeding all non-scarfed neutral nature Excadrill and Landorus-T. It speed ties neutral Mega-Chomp. This is again a balancing factor. CAP shouldn't get to outspeed these threats while having enough power to OHKO Aegislash and virtually everything that is neutral to it. This base speed also allows us to gain an analytic boost on roughly half of the metagame.

In summary - Counters Mega-Mawile and can counter Aegislash. Beats Excadrill, Hippowdon, Gengar, and Landorus-T 1 v. 1. Has potential to give a ton of damage to most things neutral to it. Hard stopped by blobs. Will also lose to Rotom-W.

I'm open to comments and suggestions
 
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Pata Hikari: The one thing that unsettles me about those damage calculations is that if CAP switches into Aegislash on a Shadow Ball, then there's a chance that CAP will faint to a Shadow Sneak, which is definitely not ideal. Perhaps you could consider increasing your PT or experimenting with alternate EV spreads for CAP. This is especially bad when CAP cannot OHKO Aegislash (with the EV spread you chose).

Edit: Yeah, you're right. It probably shouldn't be too hard to solve, considering that it's already a low chance of being able to KO with Shadow Ball + Shadow Sneak. Keep in mind that Shadow Ball on the switch + King's Shield + Shadow Ball again + Shadow Sneak will still KO even with Leftovers recovery, but you could always try to circumvent that with a status/setup move.

Edit 2: (This is in response to your updated spread.) It looks much better, although remember that Aegislash could still win if you switch in on a Shadow Ball, it King Shields next turn, takes a Fire Blast/Flamethrower, Shadow Balls again, and then Shadow Sneaks if necessary. However, the required King's Shield allows CAP a free turn to use a status/setup move (which work through King's Shield) that would net you the win. It shouldn't be a problem as long as you keep this in mind.
 
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Pata Hikari: The one thing that unsettles me about those damage calculations is that if CAP switches into Aegislash on a Shadow Ball, then there's a chance that CAP will faint to a Shadow Sneak, which is definitely not ideal. Perhaps you could consider increasing your PT or experimenting with alternate EV spreads for CAP. This is especially bad when CAP cannot OHKO Aegislash (with the EV spread you chose).
Well, it 2HKO Aegislash Shield. If Aegislash is in Shield form that means that either it used King's Shield and is just stalling a turn (allowing leftovers recovery, boosting, etc), or CAP is at full health because it hadn't come in on an attack. It OHKO's Blade Aegislash with Flamethrower 100% of the time with no investment. You can invest more and more HP to make things less risky for you and with full HP investment it can survive guaranteed.

Edit: You have a point though, I think I'm going to rework it.

Sticking with the 550 limit is surprisingly hard.
 
Final Submission

103/
63/91/120/101/90

PT 159.00(very good)

ST 176.67(excellent)

PS 94.19(below average)

SS 178.19(excellent)

BSR 334.97(very good)

252- SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 130-154 (31.7 - 37.5%) -- 88.9% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def CAP: 61-73 (14.8 - 17.8%) -- possible 6HKO
4 Atk Hippowdon Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def CAP: 182-216 (44.3 - 52.6%) -- 76.6% chance to 2HKO after sandstorm damage
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def CAP: 252-296 (72.4 - 85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Garchomp Dragon Claw vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def CAP: 102-120 (29.3 - 34.4%) -- 4.4% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def CAP: 168-198 (48.2 - 56.8%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Outrage vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def CAP: 151-178 (43.3 - 51.1%) -- 5.1% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Latias Dragon Pulse vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 123-145 (35.3 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Latias Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def CAP: 90-106 (25.8 - 30.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def CAP: 151-178 (43.3 - 51.1%) -- 5.1% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 315-372 (90.5 - 106.8%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Surf vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 146-172 (41.9 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD CAP: 292-344 (83.9 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

So I feel safe in saying this will keep our CAP safe from harm in the defense /special defense front

I have been told i need more support so i added more. the plus one is the analytic.
+1 252 SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 117-138 (38.7 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252 SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latias: 102-120 (33.7 - 39.7%) -- 27.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 291-343 (81.2 - 95.8%) --
guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Blade: 292-345 (90.1 - 106.4%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 118-141 (36.4 - 43.5%) -- 98.4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA CAP Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Hippowdon: 446-528 (106.1 - 125.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

maybe my spa stat is terrible but my understanding was that this might switch in to take things that would mot do so well on it and attack on the opponents switch getting a free move.
 
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This is basically my set. Does 110 Special Defense hold any new benchmark that 109 would not? Because that speed tie with MegaGarchomp is a little scary.
Haven't run the calcs on the Sp. Def, but I believe the speed tie with MegaChomp has some merit outside of balance. I explained more in an edit of my post, but basically:
1. There's pretty much no way we beat MegaChomp 1-v-1 because of our below average defense and its very high attack
2. Unless it uses outrage on us because it's locked in or our opponent thinks we will switch into latias to avoid the earthquake.
3. We will most likely survive the outrage (~93% of the time) and can OHKO back with an analytic boosted hydro pump. Only with analytic do we ever stand a chance of OHKOing MegaChomp.
4. This does mean we can't reliably revenge kill Mega-Chomp, but I'm okay with this for balance purposes.

EDIT: HP Ice (which I completely forgot about), will also OHKO with timid and life orb and no analytic boost. However, I'm still not sold on being faster for balance purposes and it's worth noting that HP ice only gets a guaranteed OHKO on a modest leftovers set with the analytic boost. Considering I somehow completely forgot about this, I'm more open to changing the speed now that I know there is a legitimate chance to win 1-v-1.
 
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EternalSnowman

DPL Champion
Just wanna throw support behind jas' set, fits really well.

jas61292: 110 HP / 47 Atk / 65 Def / 147 SpA / 95 SpD / 76 Spe (540 BST)

The only thing I am kinda afriad of with this set is that it becomes somewhat like a Tentacruel, except offensive instead of defensive if that makes any sense. Anyway I think that with this spread, Excadrill is a huge problem, as we need to sack at least one pokemon to beat it and Scarf Excadrill wrecks the entire core. Just throwing that out there.
 
I am going say one thing - speed should be over 92. this will allow it to outspeed Garchomp and many ground types.
 
no torty- it would only let us outspeed mega chomp and excadrill, the latter of which has a pretty common scarfed set. Even if we were base 96, Lando-T is the most common scarfer in the game, along with Keldeo, so there's that. and Garchomp has a 102 base speed, and his mega is rarely seen, (even though it is quite viable) so there's that too. And, finally, boosting our base speed would force us to compromise our bulk or power, both of which are Extremely important in taking on Aegis. So no. our base speed should not be over 92.
 

alexwolf

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A big pro of 90+ Speed in comparison to stat spreads with lower Speed is that you can outspeed Pokemon such as Mega Gyarados and Mega Tyranitar and still have EVs left to invest in HP. This is very important, especially against Mega Gyarados, as both of those Pokemon are excellent sweepers that can set up on at least one of the other two members of our core and then pose huge threats, so making sure the CAP has an advantageous 1 v 1 match-up against them is very importat imo. In the end, a lot of sets will want to use some Speed in addition to bulk, so going slower than 90 will really hurt our ability to invest in HP or SpA.

Also, being able to outspeed neutral natured or even some positive base 90s, 95s and 100s, such as Deoxys-D, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, Kyurem-B, and Manaphy will give to the CAP some much needed utility against offensive teams, which have a ton of Pokemon able to outrun and OHKO the CAP, and don't mind so much doing 1 for 1 trades.

Finally, the best and most viable wallbreakers and hard hitters in OU that don't use set up moves all have Speed higher than 90, so this says something as well (Mega Charizard Y, Kyurem-B, Mega Garchomp, Landorus, Keldeo). Except from Aegislash of course, which has insane stats thanks to its ability, as well as a wonderfull defensive typing, and Shadow Sneak, all of which give it a ton of viability against offensive teams. Oh and Mega Mawile, which has strong as fuck priority to make itself useful against offense, something that the CAP can't have.
 
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Throwing support to any spread proposing 95- speed as long as it is bulk-biased.
jas61292 made a spread that was to my favor especially. The only folly I thought it had was the PS being in the below average range. It should dip further into the poor range to at least raise the PT a bit higher to defend against physical threats that makes CAP18 is susceptible to with a 76 Speed stat.
While this does happen to be an offensive core, I still uphold the mindset that CAP18 must take hits from Aegislash and all who may threaten our concept.
 

Deck Knight

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I've made a few edits to my spread, specifically giving it a small SpA increase since, in looking around the thread, power is a major issue. In order to balance out the Speed stat I've selected though, it's necessary not to go overboard. All we really need to do is be able to OHKO Aegislash if it even chooses to come in, or, once in, be able to wipe it out in one shot, and while it's nice to want to do that unboosted by our ability or an item, that's unrealistic for Dual STABs walled by two single types. Otherwise, I'll round out calculations a little bit, but I think the stat numbers themselves are in their final form.
 

Valzy

Destroyer of Worlds
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While I generally agree with jas61292's spread, I believe that 147 SpA is too high. We are supposed to be threatened by Latias, Latios and Rotom-W, but with 147 SpA, CAP 18 can easily 2HKO all three of them if it has the right Hidden Power.

252+ SpA Life Orb Analytic CAP 18 Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Latias: 213-252 (58.5 - 69.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Life Orb Analytic CAP 18 Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Rotom-W: 185-218 (60.8 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
 

Empress

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Well, it 2HKO Aegislash Shield. If Aegislash is in Shield form that means that either it used King's Shield and is just stalling a turn (allowing leftovers recovery, boosting, etc), or CAP is at full health because it hadn't come in on an attack. It OHKO's Blade Aegislash with Flamethrower 100% of the time with no investment. You can invest more and more HP to make things less risky for you and with full HP investment it can survive guaranteed.

Edit: You have a point though, I think I'm going to rework it.

Sticking with the 550 limit is surprisingly hard.
Wait there is a 550 BST limit?
 

Valzy

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It's my own self imposed limit on the reasoning that nothing that's not a Mega evolution or legendary/pseudo-legendary has a BST higher then 555.
Slaking :p

Also, several CAP pokemon have more than 550 and BST isn't a very good measure of stats
 
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