CAP 23 CAP 23 - Part 1 - Concept Submissions

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HeaLnDeaL

Let's Keep Fighting
is an Artistis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Hello everyone, this is where we discuss the general goal of the next Create-A-Pokemon project -- CAP 23. Due to some changes regarding concept submissions, we'd like everyone, including CAP veterans, to read the rules in this OP carefully. As a reminder, CAP 23 is being designed for the CAP metagame.

This thread will be temporarily locked in order to give time for snake_rattler to have an opening statement if he so chooses.

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 23 so far:

Topic Leader: snake_rattler
Typing Leader: HeaLnDeaL
Ability Leader: LucarioOfLegends
Stats Leader: reachzero
Moves Leader: cbrevan
 
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snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
Hi everyone, I’m snake_rattler, your friendly TL, and welcome to CAP23. As the first Generation 7 CAP process and likely the only SM process, I’d like to see this project go smoothly and generate some really great discussion.

Because this project is focused on the CAP Metagame, I highly encourage everyone to learn some what the current metagame is, even if you’ve played it in years past. While we have access to a similar list of Pokemon compared to OU, our metagame has deviated substantially from OU. To prepare for this project, I suggest that you check out the CAP Metagame subforum for resources, visit the Pokemon Showdown CAP Project chatroom and the CAP Discord for discussion, and try building some teams and battling on Pokemon Showdown. This is not to discourage new players at all, but research and intelligent posts will be imperative to the great discussions generated by this project.

If this is your first time submitting a concept, or if you’re unfamiliar with good CAP concepts in general, make sure to check out the CAP Process Archive to see some good concepts from past projects. Remember that to participate in this project, you don’t have to submit something every step of the way. If you can’t think up a glorious concept for CAP23, it’s ok! The subsequent steps are equally as important, so throw your thoughts in there. Sometimes you might see long-time CAP posters creating massive, essay-like posts later on in the project – these are not required, but any post made at any time should have some sort of substance. Again, the CAP Process Archive can help you figure out what makes for a good post.

As for these concept submissions, I have one request. Take the “Questions To Be Answered” section very seriously. It’s hard coming up with these questions, but revisiting these questions can be extremely helpful later on in the project.

Last, let me remind everyone that myself and TLT are leaders, not dictators. This means we’re all happy to assist with your contribution to the project in any way possible. The CAP Moderators are also a great resource as well. The Pokemon Showdown CAP chatroom, CAP Discord, and Smogon PMs are the easiest and most appropriate ways to contact us.

As for my TL gimmick...no everyone it won’t be bad puns. I’m not that evil. Instead here’s a picture of a snake. I’m keeping it in a hide tag in case some of you don’t like them, so if you don’t like snakes, don’t click the hide tag.


I look forward to seeing some great concepts in this thread and a great project to kick of CAP in Generation 7!
 

BP

Beers and Steers
is a Contributor to Smogon
Name: Offensive over taker


Description: A Pokemon that is defined by its ability to take advantage of opposing Offensive Pokemon. I'm not saying we Out Offense them by building a super Offensive Pokemon. This would be counter productive and just make even more Offensive teams. I'm not Shooting for a Pheromosa clone here. Personally when I think of my concept I think of a Bulkier Phazer or a pokemon that Utilizes Roar, Whilwind, etc to send opposing Offensive threats away. Sort like Suicune but It'd accomplish different rolls. I see my mon fitting very well on Balance oriented teams.


Justification: Since the introduction of Generation 7 we have seen a large increase in the usage of offensive teams. There wouldn’t really be much problem with this except for the fact that it has been doing extremely well against most opposing playstyles. With that being said I believe it is time to fashion a tool that could turn the tides on opposing offensive pokemon and perhaps take advantage of the offense play style. As it stands this concept has a lot of potential and could help us learn more about every play style, not just offense.


Upon my inspection this concept falls under the categories Actualization, Archetype, and Target. In terms of Actualization, this concept could very well teach us more about our own metagame and multiple other playstyles. The only Pokemon I can think of that comes close to what I’m proposing is Tomohawk, but it isn’t really the same thing because Tomohawk counters stall; it doesn’t take advantage of it. Archetype shows us that this concept could turn into a multitude of things. One of the first things that comes to mind for me is a Phazer or Shuffler but this is just an example of what this concept could actually do. This proposed concept would also be pretty fun to use or at least that’s how I see it. When we take a look at the Target side this pokemon will most definitely help us highlight just how much use Offensive play styles get and how we can improve not just Offensive but other kinds of play styles as well.


Questions To Be Answered:
  • How Would this Concept set itself apart from the likes of pokemon that counter play styles like Tomohawk?
  • How big of a role should this concept play in taking advantage of offense Pokemon?
  • What other play styles would this concept effect ?
  • In what ways would this concept take advantage of offensive Pokemon?
  • How much change will this concept bring to the CAP Meta?
  • Should this CAP be a viable option on other Offensives teams?
  • What offensive play style are we looking to build against?

Explanation: To me this concept seems like so much fun not only to create as a community but the thought of using this in Generation 7. With Mega Mawile, Mega Medicham, Mega Lopunny, Syclant, Aurumoth, Zygarde, and a plethora of other offensive threats in the tier we need to find a way to address them. This concept has so much potential that is just waiting to be unlocked by our community. Our Meta is extremely offensive and I still think that my Concept is the best because again we are building for CAP not OU and Offense has gotten out of control and we need something to put it back in check. Personally what I'm looking for with this is something to crush offense which is kind of vague yes but that opens doors to so many possibilities. I am excited to see what roles concept will full fill. The one thing I am shooting for is something that isn’t weak to Ground because I feel like that’d be very counter productive considering how popular Landorus-Therian is this generation. I think this CAP will be extremely fun to create because we will be learning a whole lot about Offensive as well as Balance teams creating the perfect mon to dismantle Offense!
 
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Name: One Trick Ponyta

General Description: A Pokemon that just has a single set of moves that it runs exceedingly well.

Justification: There are several Pokemon that excel in various metas despite having an extremely limited set of moves. The goal of this CAP would be to figure out what aspects of such a Pokemon can lead it to success.

Questions To Be Answered:
- How might a Pokemon with a shallow movepool overcome that weakness?
- How much does the aspects of a Pokemon besides the movepool affect how well a Pokemon does?
- How might different choices in ability and item selection affect how a single set of moves is utilized?
- How does prior knowledge of which four moves a particular Pokemon will have affect how you approach the matchup?


Explanation: We have all heard about how certain Pokemon have shallow movepools, usually to the detriment of the Pokemon in question (very notably: Flareon.) However some Pokemon, such as Magnezone, are highly rated despite this flaw, usually due to fitting a specific niche (In Magnezone's case, trapping Steel-Types and taking them down with high powered attacks.) Cawmadore is also a good example, as it was made to have a clearly defined niche (to use Belly Drum to power up and sweep) and works well with it despite a less than stellar movepool.

There are several methods we could look at in achieving the goal for this concept, such as giving it a rarely seen or uncommon ability, giving it a niche not used in the CAP metagame, and of course taking an existing niche in a new direction. And if anything, a combination of the three can work as well.
 
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  • Name - Utility Counter 2.0
  • Description - The definition of a utility counter is essentially a Pokémon that can check and take on a variety of other Pokémon, but not all at once. This CAP would do this offensively using abilities, typing, move coverage, and stats/EV distribution/nature to utilize different sets but could only handle certain Pokémon based on the set.
  • Justification - Archetype: Utility Counter is literally an archetype. It’s a type of Pokémon that checks a lot of threats but will only take on maybe a few in a game. In a metagame with more and more threats, having Pokémon that can take on a lot of them is incredibly useful. Having a Pokémon that can use different sets to counter different threats is also useful to expand its versatility and potential. Since Krilowatt had the same concept, this would be our second time with this concept.
  • Questions To Be Answered:
    • How do all of these factors listed above (ability, typing, move coverage, and stats/EV distribution/nature) affect versatility in a Pokémon and what it can take on?
    • How does having multiple viable sets on a Pokémon affect how people play against it?
    • How will the threat list for this CAP be developed since it can handle a lot of different situations based on the set, with each set having a different list that it can check? What will it fully counter, only check, sometimes check, and what will check and counter it?
    • How will this concept differentiate itself from Krilowatt’s project? What options can we give this CAP without creating 1 “best set” like Krilowatt?
    • Will this CAP counter threats via quality, i.e. counter a few very well, or via quantity by countering a lot but not very well?
    • How will this CAP use its offensive and defensive capabilities to counter threats? Which will it focus on more? How could it use both offense and defense in tandem?
  • Explanation:
The idea is, “I need help with Threat X, so I’ll use CAP’s set A, which counters Threat X, along with some other threats.” “…but this time I want to counter Threat Y, in which case I want CAP’s set B.” The sets on this CAP could be tailored to counter a specific threat or a couple of threats in order to support a team. This CAP won’t be able to handle every Pokémon or situation with 1 set and will still have some Pokémon that could check it regardless of the set the CAP runs.
This CAP will most likely have 4 move slot syndrome, as well as issues deciding EV distribution (+speed to check certain threats, but also +attack/special attack to handle other threats). Options in its ability, move coverage and item (Z-moves possibly) could also significantly impact its sets.
I see this concept looking like this: CAP has usable stats on both physical and special side so it could be a physical attacker or special attacker or can go mixed (probably somewhere in between) and whose EV distribution and nature is critical to each set (ex. can check threat Y because CAP out speeds but only if it uses a +speed nature, will most likely need significant reasons to not run a +speed nature). Could have a slightly defensive oriented set. This may be a repeat of Krilowatt’s concept, but I feel we could go in a slightly different direction and still satisfy the concept. For example, having multiple viable sets to target specific threats.

Edits:
Added extra sentence in Justification and fixed some wording.
Added 2nd question and extra to questions 3, 4 and 6.
Added extra mentioning of nature choice to expand options in the concept and to stimulate ideas.
Added extra notes to emphasize that I would prefer that this concept end up with multiple sets to take on different threats.
Changed name to "Utility Counter 2.0" with the clarification added at the end of the Justification.

Special thanks to snake_rattler for the suggestions!
 
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Name: Terrain - O - Saurus

General Discription: A Pokémon which can take advantage of more than one of the Terrain field effects.

Justification: Sun and Moon bought about the Tapu Guardians, who each summon a unique Terrain field effect much like Drought, Drizzle, Snow Warning and Sand Storm. Unlike Weather based field effects however; terrains have little to no Pokémon designed to utilise them to their full potential.

Actualisation & Archtype: When used correctly in the meta game the CAP should instil a sense of synergy; like it utilises the terrain to the best of its ability and the terrain is also bringing out the best in the CAP. This creates an archetype within the meta, a form of team based around this CAP teamed with Terrain setters which is currently only seen with Rain as other forms of field effect are unviable.


Questions to be answered?
.What Makes each terrain powerful?
.How can each terrain's effect be utilised in a way which synergises with a Pokémon?
.How would Terrain set itself apart from already utilised field effects?
.How could a Pokémon synergise with more than one of the terrain effects?
.How large of an effect on Terrain - O - Saurus' effectiveness should be determined by if Terrain is up or not?
.Can Terrain - O - Saurus be accomplished without making it a specific partner Pokémon?

Explanation:

Terrain is such an important part of the Meta right now with all 4 being utilised without any real abusers to synergise with. We've seen methods of utilising terrain to great effect previously (Think Lele + Phero) but no Pokémon outside of Gogoat has any direct synergy with any of the terrains. I think it would be interesting to find out how we can create a way of utilising potentially multiple terrains and have one Pokémon able to synergise well with them. With terrains being such a pivotal point in the meta currently, its the perfect time to experiment how far they can be pushed
 
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david0895

Mercy Main Btw
I'm so excited for my first concept submission

Name - The Return of the Fallen King

Description - A Pokemon that can use the move King's Shield in a balanced way for the CAP metagame

Justification:
  • Actualization: Actually there are only three pokémon that can use this move: Aegislash, Smeargle and Necturna. Aegislash is unusable because it's in Ubers, Necturna prefer to use powerful moves or more spammable moves like Sticky Web or Spore. Smeargle, instead, has not enough bulk for giving enough usage to this move. The project aims to create a Pokemon that can use this move effectively during the match, but it will also help to explore this move and how can be used at its maximum potential.
Questions To Be Answered:
  • How can (or cannot) a Pokemon be broken with King's Shield?
  • What archetype should the ideal user of King's Shield follow?
  • What is the best way to play around this move?
  • When should King's Shield be used?
  • How can the metagame adapt to this move and to his user?
  • How much is King's Shield different from Protect?
  • Why should you run King's Shield instead of another move?
Explanation - King's Shield is a particular move that has multiple effects: it acts like Protect, stopping the foe's attack and it lowers its attack, if there was a contact with it. The problem with this move is that don't stop the status attacks like Will-O-Wisp or Toxic, leaving at the user, the risk of being crippled.
I don't have a very specific idea of how can be the best user of this move, maybe a fast attacker with no coverage or a physical/special wall, nonetheless I think it can be great (but not broken) with this move.
 
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reachzero

the pastor of disaster
is a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
  • Name - Maximum Compression
  • Description - A Pokemon that compresses a number of vital team roles efficiently within a single moveset, opening team slots for more powerful, less specialized Pokemon.
  • Justification
    • While it sounds at first glance like an archetype, this is actually a Target concept. The goal is to relax the mad scramble to fill every important team time using only six slots, by compressing as many as possible into one specialized slot.
  • Questions To Be Answered
  • What are the major roles that must be compressed for a CAP team to be effective?
  • Which roles are the hardest to fit on a team at present?
  • How many roles can one team slot with one typing realistically compress?
  • Which Pokemon increase in value when essential team needs are already covered?
  • What are the weaknesses for role compression? For offensive mons, does role compression inherently mean giving up precious coverage?
  • How close is the correlation between a Pokemon's usefulness and its power? How do we maximize role compression while maintaining competitive balance?
  • How much does a role relate to a Pokemon's typing, abilities, stats, or moves? What approximate combination does a typical X role need?-Are there certain roles that just naturally seem to jive together?
    -What moves or other characteristics seem to be common in role compression? Are they common because of some sort of latent synergy, because of simple distribution, or anything else?
  • Can typically "opposite" roles still be compressed together?
  • Do roles exist as independent categories or is there some sort of spectrum or chart or klein-group that we can use to organize roles? How do differing roles relate and interact with each other?
  • Explanation - Before Generation 6, the most significant aspect of building a team was type synergy, since there were so few threats that needed to be specifically covered. Generation 6 altered this process dramatically by introducing Megas and especially Sticky Web (Necturna)--Megas because their power was too great to realistically build without one and Sticky Web because they essentially made hazard control, which until this point was a luxury, into a hard necessity for a seriously competitive team. Complicating this, CAP has several offensive threats that are really difficult to account for, with Volkraken the most obvious. Handling this many roles, even using basic role compression, often takes as many as four slots, giving you little room for originality. This Pokemon would aim to take on the tougher roles to fit on a team; this means it would probably not care about hazard setting or removal, for instance, since the CAP metagame already has those in spades. By specializing in the hard to fill roles, it would be easier to fit Pokemon like Syclant or Zygarde that do not counter any of the Pokemon with annoyingly specific counters.
Edit: Please note that HeaLnDeaL and I have decided to officially merge our concept submissions, making this a joint submission.
 
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Name: Core Dismantler

Description: This Pokemon has ease disrupting the most common defensive cores of the tier.

Justification: Defensive Cores are there for a reason, they usually have great defensive sinergy and complement each other's weaknesses. The thing is, no core can be perfect, there's always something the core is weak to. That's exactly the goal of my concept, 'Core Dismantler' would have great matchups with the most common and staple defensive cores of the CAP Metagame and would excel at breaking them.
  • Target - This concept fits mainly under target as it is clearly targeting common defensive cores, it does not address one specific target, but rather a group of them; Mollux and Tapu Bulu; Defensive Landorus-T and Assault Vest Magearna; Mega Scizor and Cyclohm; Toxapex and Celesteela; for example are a great defensive cores in the current Metagame, this concpet doesn't envision to break all of them, but a decent portion at least, either by sheer raw power or by great coverage options.
  • Archetype - I also thing this qualifies for Archetype, if the concept gets succesfully assesed, it should definitely switch up common defensive cores and bring more options to the table, instead of seeing the same Pokemon on defensive builds everytime, 'Core Dismantler' aims to balance out those staple cores that currently have few weaknesses.
Questions to be awnsered:
  • How should this Pokemon aim to break down common defensive cores? With raw power? With great coverage? With other obscure methods such as trapping or PP Stalling?
  • Can only a single Pokemon break many defensive cores on its own?
  • How much of an impact will a single Pokémon provide to defensive cores? Will its presence actually encourage some Metagame shifts or is a single Pokemon not enough for this role?
  • How versitile should 'Core Dismantler' be? If it can't check most of the Pokemon it needs to using a single moveset will it end up being too based on versatility and 'choosing what it checks' rather than actually performing its role succesfully?
  • Will this CAP's addition pressure defensive playstyles too hard? How viable will bulkier teams be after this CAP's introduction?
Justification: If you've played OU recently, you have probably seen the Celesteela + Toxapex + Tangrowth somewhere, right? This is quite a powerful core because it has so few Pokemon that can realiably break it down, however one Pokemon stands out as one of the best check to these types of defensive cores... Mega Camerupt! Yeah, OHKOing Celesteela, Toxapex and Tangrowth makes Mega Camerupt a niche pick in OU, because its that much easy for Offensive teams to break thorugh teams they would normally struggle against, and despite being extremely slow weak to very common Ground- and Water-type Moves that currently run OU, Mega Camerupt pulls of the core breaking role decently well. My goal with this concept is something similar, but considerably more viable than Mega Camerupt, 'Core Dismantler' would break down all those aforementioned CAP staples but would still have a couple of key weaknesses stopping it from becoming broken, just like Mega Camerupt, but again, on a more viable scale. It would also have a more broad application, not only breaking one common defensive core, but a couple of 'em.
 

HeaLnDeaL

Let's Keep Fighting
is an Artistis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Edit: I was typing this while Reach posted his :c Will leave it up for now but rip. We seem to have similar starting points but different end-goals at least.

Edit 2: I have officially merged this with reach, look at his post above for the current version.

Name - role.zip (Role Compression)
Description - A Pokemon that aims to explore the moveset-related phenomenon known as "Role Compression" in which a Pokemon is able to fulfill a number of important tasks within a single moveset. This does not mean that this CAP only has one viable moveset, just that it has at least one significant moveset that aims to express Role Compression.
Justification - The term Role Compression has been popularized throughout the 6th generation of Pokemon and for a while was one of the big buzz words when it came to team building or even analyzing a specific Pokemon. However, the term seems to largely apply to specific Pokemon and their unique conglomerate of functions that can fit into a single set; I haven't really seen much discussion on why certain mons can role compress well outside of the obvious explanations that it has X move for X function and Y move for Y function. I'd hope that this concept would allow us to explore the phenomenon of role compression in a more thorough manner and CAP's natural stages seem to provide a great network for dissecting it.
Ultimately, Role Compression as a phenomenon is obviously "role based" and thus focuses on what the Pokemon does. This would put this concept squarely under the Archetype section of the CAP concept toolbox. However, starting out this concept is obviously ambiguous as to what roles we will pursue other than setting us up to try to explore multiple roles in the same set. I would expect the concept assessment stage would be where at least a few of the exact roles would be decided.

Questions To Be Answered (note that some of these questions follow opposing lines of thought and so not all of them can probably be answered in a single CAP, but they all should give an idea of some of the potential avenues)
-What factors impact a Pokemon's ability to successfully role compress?
-What "formulas" help to best express a certain role? How must these be modified when compressing roles and still having a balanced Pokemon?
-How much does a role relate to a Pokemon's typing, abilities, stats, or moves? What approximate combination does a typical X role need?-Are there certain roles that just naturally seem to jive together?
-What moves or other characteristics seem to be common in role compression? Are they common because of some sort of latent synergy, because of simple distribution, or anything else?
-Can typically "opposite" roles still be compressed together?
-Do roles exist as independent categories or is there some sort of spectrum or chart or klein-group that we can use to organize roles? How do differing roles relate and interact with each other?
-Is role compression just a conglomeration that happens when a Pokemon can effectively run two different sets, but that these sets share at least one common tool that lets them be compressed together? Are commonalities such as these the catalyst for role compression or are they just coincidences?
-What are the weaknesses for role compression? For offensive mons, does role compression inherently mean giving up precious coverage?

Explanation - This concept is largely inspired from a piece of an old smog article in which alexwolf went over roles that were missing in the past OU metagame. Pretty much everything he listed was related to a singular role... except when he talked about an offensive heal bell or aromatherapy using mon, effectively talking about what would later be here-and-there discussed as a "Power Cleric." A Power Cleric would serve at least one basic level of role compression by, in theory, allowing a Pokemon to both heal its teammate and immediately threaten the opponent with offensive means. At its core, it seems like the role of "sweeper" and "healer" are opposing roles that don't interact very much together.

And then, well, Mega Altaria and it's Heal Bell Dragon Dance set became a thing for a while in Gen6 OU, showing us that the bizarre, seemingly opposing roles could work together. Outside of Mega Altaria, perhaps only Syveon can claim some Power Cleric title, but even then it's "Power" and "Cleric" sets were almost used in mutually exclusive sets and never really together. Beyond just better stats, what allowed Mega Altaria to role compress better than Sylveon ever could?

Of course, Power Cleric is definitely not the only role compression that exists. Just from a small cursory google search of role compression, it seems that offensive Pokemon forgoing a coverage move for Hazards or Hazard removal generates some hits on the phrase of role compression. (But really, the same google search also shows how even though the term is used and generally recognized under common criteria, it's not blatantly defined anywhere). "Team Support" and "Offensive Power" seem to generate the most hits, whereas different supporting roles can feasibly be role compressed but generate less use of the phrase itself. How much of the phrase is just a buzz word label and how much of it helps us to better understand the game of Pokemon? What are the similarities to the term Role Compression and the role "Utility Pokemon" as described in the Smogon Dictionary? Are utility-based Pokemon commonly expected to have role compression or are utility options functionally similar to claim a single role?

Other compressed roles, off the top of my head, include Hazard Stacker/Remover, Stallbreaker/Healer, Status-user/Hazard Stacker (I've even recently started using a weird SR Twave Necrozma because it role compresses hazards, status, and Fighting-check well without being quite as pursuit weak as Mew is), etc. And how much does checking or answering a certain threat and having a more move-based role add to role compression? Really, Tomohawk is arguably one of the best examples of Role Compression in the CAP metagame because of its ability to run moves that let it do so many different things at once and multiple Tomohawk sets could be said to have role compression (Offensive-based Tomohawk can run Taunt or Healing Wish to offer further support, as one example).
 
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Name - Power Cleric

Description - A Pokemon that is able to keep its teammates healthy throughout a match, but is also able to fulfill the role of an offensive attacker.

Justification - Archetype: There are a large amount of Pokemon in the CAP metagame, be they sweepers,wallbreakers or even walls, that, although they can do a lot of work to opposing Pokemon, can quickly end up being dead weight as a result of a Thunder Wave, a Toxic or even a stray burn from a Scald. Hyper offense in particular struggles with this as it doesn't usually run clerics because they tend to weigh down their speed. Having a cleric that is also able to throw punches (or whatever attacks it would use) at the opponent would give hyper offense a staple that would greatly increase its capabilities in the long run.

Questions To Be Answered:
-What factors would impact the viability of this Pokemon in the metagame?
-How much of a difference would a Pokemon like this make in the meta?
-How can a Pokemon like this be made so it has reason to be run over other clerics like Chansey and Clefable?
-How can it be made so a cleric fits on a hyper offensive team while keeping as much momentum as possible for the team?
-Similarly, what is the most effective way that an offensive team can bring this mon in to do its job?
-Can a mon like this be made to check normal threats to the type of team it is designed to fit on, and how can it be made to do that?

Explanation:
Honestly this idea has much to do with my personal experiences, as my preferred playstyle in the metagame is straight-up offense, which ends up being hyper offense more often than not, and it's always heartbreaking when your opponent paralyzes one of my sweepers or burns one of my physical attackers and I have nothing to do about it because I didn't like running a Pokemon like Chansey or Clefable due to them not fitting my playstyle. My main hope is to have a Pokemon in the meta that can heal these detrimental status conditions but doesn't weigh down the essence of these hyper offensive teams and feels like it fits like a glove on such teams while being an effective team player. A cleric with offensive capabilities would make hyper offense much more effective and would help make sweeps all the more satisfying.
 
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LucarioOfLegends

Master Procraster
is a CAP Contributor
Name: Hunker Down

Description: A Pokemon that becomes gradually becomes stronger defensively over the course of the battle.

Justification: There are a number of Pokemon who can get offensively stronger over the course of the match. Soul-Heart and Moxie immediately come to mind as gradual offensive boosts, but abilities such as Contrary, Defiant, and even general stat boosts shows how incredibly dominant the offensive strength boosting is in CAP and OU. This Pokemon takes the opposite route, and focuses on the more defensive aspects of strength gain. This concept specifically falls under the Actualization category, as it focuses on the exploration of the defensive side of strength gain. The only two Pokemon who come close to this are Mudsdale/Mudbray, which follow this idea but don’t full have the tools to utilize it, and Celesteela, which is more of a nice perk instead of a strong ideology.

Questions To Be Answered:
- Which forms of defensive growth should be highlighted over the creation of this CAP?
- What benefits can defensive growth provide for the user and the team in general?
- Why is defensive growth usually seen as inferior and unviable compared to its offensive brother?
- What factors naturally cause problems for defensive growth and cause it to be harder to fully exploit?
- Should the CAP be able to combat/remedy issues that defensive growth usually suffer from entirely, cover only a few, or not address these problems at all?
- What archetypes should the CAP be able to boost is defensive capabilities effectively?
- What methods of defensive growth should be avoided due to offensive implications?

Explanation: While this seems very limited to abilities such as Stamina, Beast Boost and Water Compaction, there are a number of routes that can actually be taken. Someone mentioned (thanks cbrevan) to me that passive recovery can also be seen as getting stronger defensively, as it means you become much harder to KO. This means that abilities such as Poison Heal can become strong contenders. General stat boosts from the likes of Stockpile and Acid Armor are also another possible route, although they have a quicker growth due to their availability of use. There are also some more interesting routes that could be taken using stat boosts via Contrary, such as Shell Smash and Close Combat, which can increase defenses to stupid levels.

Probably the biggest challenge for this concept is riding the line between having enough tools to be a viable Pokemon, but also not giving it tools to promote a more offensive play style. For example, moves like Calm Mind and Coil can be seen as being used for their defensive benefits for gradual defensive growth. However, it also grows the attack stat for the respective bias to be used for offensive purposes as well, causing it to stray away from the original concept. However, giving it too few tools in the endeavor to not give it any anti-concept options has the chance of seriously hurting its viability. We have to find that fine line for this concept to be executed correctly.
 
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Name: Use the Debuff

Description: This pokemon, using moves and or abilities will use stat debuffs to its advantage and interfere with many playstyles that are unprepared to chose; switch or be KO'd.

Justification: Many pokemon love to stay on the field for a long time, be it because of their favorable offensive or defensive matchup of the fact that they're just incredibly strong or bulky. This pokemon would force out most pokemon with repeated stat decreases until they have no choice but to leave the field or be left for dead.

This concept would fall under Target, as it uses stat debuffs against the opponent, giving teams a new tool against both bulky and offensive teams.

Questions to be answered:
How will the pokemon go about lowering the stats in the first place?

Will the pokemon specialize in stat lowering abilities or moves or use both equally?

How will the pokemon stay powerful while still not being broken?

Why use temporary debuffs when a stat boost to yourself would be better on paper?

Explanation: There are a variety of ways to decrease stats, abilities that decrease a stat such as intimidate, or stats on contact, like goey, and there are plenty of moves that decrease stats 100% of the time such as low sweep and trop kick. Something worth mentioning would also be the moves like liquidation and kin that have a chance but not a gaurentee to lower a stat. Yet another mention would be to screech and friends that don't deal damage yet still lower stats. This pokemon will need stab on some of these moves to gaurenteed some good consistent damage, and either one of the stat lowering abilities or possibly an ability to assist in the stat lowering move department.
 
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Name: He Lives in You

Description: A Pokemon that aims to make effective use of its access to sacrificial moves.

Justification: Actualization: This Pokemon aims to enable a player to make high-risk, high-reward plays. It looks to provide greater momentum to its team by removing itself from the match early, taking the chance that the player might have been better off leaving it in play. Some existing Pokemon do come close to this idea. For example, Glalie-Mega and Azelf can both use Explosion to blow a hole in the opposing team once they've outlived their utility. However, these Pokemon are not defined by the advantage to be gained by their sacrifice. In addition, other sacrificial moves tend to find only niche usage for the purpose of filling out a moveset.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • What sacrificial moves are the most worthy of exploration and use?
  • At what point does the use of a single move outweigh a Pokemon's presence in a battle?
  • How would the ability to use certain sacrificial moves effectively affect teambuilding?
  • What strategies might arise to counter sacrificial moves?
  • What type of Pokemon would make the best teammates for a Pokemon that uses sacrificial moves?
  • How would the knowledge that a Pokemon may sacrifice itself and have its team profit for it affect the behavior of both the player and opponent?
Explanation: When I play a match, very often I will throw caution to the wind in hopes of making a gambit that can force an edge over my opponent. This mentality has often led me to explore the role of sacrificial moves, especially Healing Wish and Memento, in breathing life back into a team that might be quickly failing against an opponent.

One of my personal favorite Pokemon is Healing Wish Tomohawk, likely the most viable sacrificial Pokemon in the CAP metagame, for its ability to give back to Pokemon without effective recovery. However, Tomohawk will usually always have something better to do with its precious moveslots, being a Pokemon with a very broad range of uses. Whereas Tomohawk, in general, is a long-lived Pokemon with many safe plays, this CAP would aim to base its utility around its ephemeral nature, possibly using moves like Explosion in order for its team to profit against specific targets or in specific situations.

It is worth taking time to note the differences between this Pokemon's concept and Plasmanta: Plasmanta's aim was to punish Pokemon once it was knocked out, but not necessarily to be knocked out. A player sends this Pokemon into battle, however, with every intention of removing it from play in an all-or-nothing gambit.

As for some interesting possibilities for this concept, the Z-Move variants of certain sacrificial moves might be able to be used to interesting effect. For example, Z-Explosion and Z-Final Gambit both have the potential to be used as high-powered regular attacks once before being used as a sacrifice, while Z-Memento will restore the HP of the incoming Pokemon.
 
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Name: Weak But Skilled

Description: This Pokemon manages to succeed in the SM metagame despite multiple crippling factors.

Justification: Actualization, this concept forces us to think of new and creative ways to create a threat, either by looking at some unique Pokémon that have managed something like this in the past, or by using some new combination never seen before.

Questions to be answered:

-Which way is the most efficient to create a OU level threat while keeping these restrictions?
-Is it better to achieve this with something with various possible sets, or is it better to stick to just one role?
-How good the advantages should be to compensate for the other shortcomings?
-How can this Pokemon compete with others that have a similar role, but have some clear advantages over it?

Explanation: Bad typing, shallow movepool, useless abilities, low base stats, these are all factors that can easily make a mon unviable. However, sometimes certain ones can overcome these shortcomings and succeed. Some examples are:

-Breelom: Mediocre offensive typing and bad stats, but compensated by two fantastic abilities and access to Spore)
-Serperior: Sub-par typing and stats, but has access to the deadly combination of Contrary+Leaf Storm
-Smeargle: Has the ability to learn almost any move, but its abyssal stats means that it can't use them neither as a sweeper or as a wall, but still manages to carve itself a niche as an utility mon, thanks to being able to set up any hazards, even the scarcely distributed Sticky Web.
-Malaconda: Very specialized typing, movepool, abilities and stats, designed to give it a valuable niche on one of the most popular team archetypes at the time, but purposefully leaving it otherwise a bit underwhelming.
-Cawmodore: True, it was designed specifically around Belly Drum, but on paper its stats and typing are lacking for an offensive role, and its movepool lacks anything that could make a defensive set useful. Basically, as a result of its own concept, Cawmodore without BD would fall apart like a house of cards.

Then, in what other creative ways could we build a mon to make it threatening, despite looking underwhelming in multiples areas?
 
NAME: FULL POTENTIAL

Description: a Pokemon that can bring out all the good things or remove the flaws of a pokemon not used often.

Justification

Target:
It's designed to make a pokemon not used often stronger, as many Gen 7 Pokemon can be powerful, but has many flaws letting it down like stats or ability. This Pokemon will be designed to make sure a Pokemon rarely used in the cap meta gets it's flaws covered, effectively making it powerful.

For example, let us bring out Crabominable: high attack, great offensive, good coverage and great offensive typing; but unfortunately, it is slow and not that bulky. So the potential bringing Pokemon can make their opponents weaker, set up a screen or do something to help Crabominable's poor bulk or speed, then pivot out so said mon can make use of said potential.

Questions to be answered:
  • How would you cover a weaker mon's flaws?
  • What kind of mons would this supposed potential bringer make stronger: like sweepers, walls, Crabominables etc.
  • What strategies may arise to counter this mon
  • Is it possible to make this mon not turn a powerful OU threat invincible

Explanation:
I really enjoy using mons that aren't used much. Yet I can always think of how we can make those mons better. Since directly giving a Pokemon an upgrade isn't possible, I settled for having a Pokemon help this.

For example, let us bring out Crabominable, high attack, great offensive, good coverage(CRAB HAMMA) great offensive typing but unfortunately, it is slow and not that bulky. Potential bringing Pokemon can make their opponents weaker, set up a screen or do something to help Crabominable's poor bulk or speed, then pivot out so said mon can make use of said potential.

The main use of having weird mons is that no one really prepares for them. This mon can help said mon sweep a game or help it do stuff, adding a surprise factor and a makes a flaw in an enemy's team that they seen before.
 
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boxofkangaroos

this is the day of the expanding man
Name: Scizor of the Sun

Description: A Pokemon that benefits from the weakening of Water-type moves in the Sun in order to better function as a utility or support Pokemon.

Justification: Scizor of the Sun is an Archetype concept because it establishes a new role in the metagame that previously was not present. Rain teams generally feature one or more utility Pokemon (often Scizor or Ferrothorn) that benefit from Rain’s weakening of Fire-type moves, providing support for their team while also being supported by the Rain setters. Sun teams, however, rarely feature more than a Drought user and some Fire-type or Chlorophyll abusers. This Pokemon will aim to patch that hole, creating a new role and deepening the Sun archetype as a whole.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • How can a Pokemon abuse weather without a specific boosting ability?
  • Can this Pokemon increase the viability of Sun teams as a whole?
  • Would an increase in popularity of Sun teams provoke “weather wars” and threaten the popularity of Rain, Sand, and even Hail archetypes?
  • How might this Pokemon synergize with other Sun abusers through defensive typing and/or offensive coverage?
  • How can this Pokemon's weakness to Water be one of its defining characteristics?
  • If this Pokemon has other weaknesses besides Water, how will they play out in the Sun?
  • How can we draw inspiration from Scizor and Ferrothorn without copying their stats and abilities too literally?
  • How can this Pokemon work to develop the Sun archetype as a whole?
Explanation: Ever since Gen 6, Sun has been a largely unexplored archetype. It has been outclassed by Rain in both OU and CAP, mainly because there are simply not as many good options for Sun teams. At the outset of Gen 7, Rain was buffed even further with the introduction of Drizzle Pelipper, an option far superior to Politoed due to Pelipper’s momentum and secondary typing. Despite the introduction of both Drought Torkoal and Drought Malaconda, Sun is still left sitting on the sidelines as an archetype that is much less prevalent in CAP. Scizor of the Sun aims to change this by fleshing out the Sun archetype to make it as complex as Rain currently is. In parallel with Rain’s Scizor and Ferrothorn, Scizor of the Sun must be weak to Water, as it is essential to fulfilling the concept. Whether this Pokemon is 2x or 4x weak to Water must be left to later stages of the process. From there, there are a variety of ways to take this – ideally, Scizor of the Sun should synergize with existing Sun threats such as Mega Charizard Y, Malaconda and Venusaur, and it should have access to moves or abilities that allow it to act as a utility or support Pokemon for Sun teams. I am eager to see how Scizor of the Sun can transform the use of weather in the CAP metagame!
 
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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: Z-Crystal Zealot

Description: This Pokemon finds its offensive, defensive, and supportive capabilities through utilizing a variety of Z-Crystals.

Justification: One of the important roles of the Create-A-Pokemon Project is to explore new and/or underutilized mechanics introduced in any given generation. The former was explored though Crucibelle, where we not only explored Mega Evolution, but also the strengths of traditionally "weak" types. The latter was discussed highly during both Necturna (Sketch) and Cawmodore (Belly Drum), both of which have gone on to be two of my favorite processes for the rich discussion they featured. Within the design triangle, this fits best as an archetype, in my opinion, due to how these concepts explore roles of facets that aren't necessarily Pokemon (typings & moves). Through this concept, we'll be exploring yet another role-that-isn't-a-Pokemon: items.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Basic: What are the effects of Z-Crystals offensively, defensively, and on the support?
  • Basic: What are uses of Z-Crystals in the current metagame? What works and what doesn't? What are common tactics against Z-Crystals?
  • Intermediate: What does a Pokemon forgo in order to hold a Z-Crystal? What tempts Pokemon to hold Z-Crystals over other items?
  • Intermediate: Are some Z-Crystals inherently better than others in our metagame?
  • Advanced: How can the selection of a particular Z-Crystal over another alter team composition? Is it possible to predict which Z-Crystal is in play before it is used?
  • Advanced: Can the risk of using Z-Crystals be mitigated? How much or how little? How can prediction of Z-Crystals help or harm expert players?
Explanation: Z-Crystals certainly have been explored on the ladder and in theorymon. But putting the idea of a Z-Crystal into the entire process of a CAP Process is an exciting prospect. Our good friends at The Flying Press wrote up this article on Z-Crystals in the current generation; I highly recommend giving it a read-through. They are certainly a relevant part of the metagame, and understanding their usage can lead to much better play on both the ladder and in competitive matches.

There is so much room for creativity with Z-Crystals that this project could go in many directions. Offensively, Z-Crystals can be used as wallbreakers to push through Pokemon that normally stop it hard. A good example of this would be Heatran, which struggled with bulky waters (Rotom-W) for generations, but now has an extremely powerful way of breaking through it via Grassium-Z. Defensively, Pokemon can fully recover HP, raise stats, and perform various actions for longevity. This category is the least explored, and for good reason. Can a Pokemon find good defensive use for a Z-Crystal? And finally, Z-Crystals get a lot of street cred for being able to pull off some pretty insane support stunts, from healing teammates with Parting Shot to curing statuses while recovering HP with Heal Bell. GameFreak has certainly given us a lot to work with here on a creative level.

But more importantly, in my opinion, we will be given an open floor to discuss risk versus reward, and how that is present within item selection. Using a Z-Crystal is typically a risky move, as you only get one shot at it per match. What if the opponent uses Protect or switches into a counter? Can a Pokemon serve as a lure while simultaneously threatening an entire team? Can entire team compositions be tightened up through clever selection of Z-Crystal? Should players be rewarded for more risky play, and will players choose risky options if they are tempting enough? These questions can even be extended into a discussion about teams for laddering versus teams for tournaments. There is lots of strategical topics to address here, and we can do it all through the vehicle of Z-Crystals.
 
Name - Hail to the Hail

Description - A Pokemon that can make hail a more viable playstyle in the metagame, especially against other weather teams.

Justification - Hail, a potentially useful strategy, has always gotten the short end of the stick compared to the other three weathers, with numerous fundamental flaws. This CAP would help mitigate these flaws and give Hail teams a better chance in the metagame.
-Archetype: This CAP would aim to increase the amount of viable options in teambuilding, preventing stagnation and creating a more diverse metagame
-Target: This CAP is targeting all weather teams, not just Hail, with the aim of exposing what makes a playstyle such as them viable.

Questions To Be Answered:
-What role would Hail benefit from the most?
-What are the biggest flaws and limitations of Hail, and how do these flaws set it apart (and back) from
the other three weathers?
-Should we worry about other weather teams using this CAP, and if so how can we best prevent that?
-How would the increased prominence of Hail affect the metagame?
-If we don't make this CAP Ice-type, how do we work around Hail damaging non-Ice-types?
-Would a Hail-specific ability work best with this CAP (Ice Body, Snow Cloak, Slush Rush), or would a non-Hail-specific ability work fine?
-How can this CAP best take advantage of Aurora Veil?

Explanation - Let's face it, in the ongoing weather wars, hail is the perenial loser of the lot. Compared to the other three weathers, or even among weatherless teams, hail just plain can't compete as well in OU, with the one viable Hail setter, Alolan Ninetails, only used because of Aurora Veil, and a lot less viable options in general for crafting a hail team then there are for the other three weathers. With this CAP, I'm aiming to hopefully make
Hail equal to the other three, or at the least be considered a serious playstyle beyond Ninetails-A.

As for what to do with this, there are several routes I feel we could take. One would be a better Hail setter then what we have currently, though this may end up boiling down to "Ninetails-A with better defense". Another option would be a Pokemon that meshes well with Ice-types (which are more likely than not the dominant type on Hail teams for obvious reasons), covering their common weaknesses offensively and/or defensively while looking to it's teammates to cover its own. A third option would be to a good hazard controller for Hail, which is seriously compromised by the nigh-omnipresent Stealth Rock. Of course, combining roles is an option, and likely inevitable, given the current state of the metagame.
 
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Name : The Chameleon

Description : This Pokemon have to change his typing in order to be effective and to work hopefully better against the opponent.

Justification : Typing is one of the most important mechanics in Pokemon as it defines Pokemon's avantages and weaknesses. However, a Pokemon able to change his typing can completely change his match-ups as well. Thus, this concept is an Archetype since the goal is to explore how much typing switches affects match-ups, but it's also a case of Target as such a Pokemon would likely choose to get a typing allowing him to deal with your team's weaknesses or whatever you want to check, lure in...

Questions To Be Answered :
- By which ways this Pokemon could change his typing ? How many ways?
- Which tools such a Pokemon needs to be effective when changing his typing ?
- Would this thing change his typing in order to be more powerful offensively (i.e Protean Greninja), harder to break through defensively (i.e Reflect Type Latias-Mega in ORAS) or both?
- How much a Pokemon potientally able to check almost every Pokemon (considering it can get every typing needed to do so) would affect the Metagame and teambuilding options ?
- Which movepool's and stat's restrictions are needed to prevent this thing for being unhealthy as it could potientally beat everything as long as it gets the typing he wants?

Explanation : There are already several Pokemons able to work better when changing their typing, the ones which come in my mind are Protean Greninja, Z-Conversion Porygon-Z, Reflect Type Latias-Mega, Silvally... But I think that almost all of them could use their respectives abilities / moves to fulfill other tasks, despite having greats movepools. Here are some examples of what I mean:

We all know how great Protean Greninja is as a Sweeper due to gaining the STAB in all of his moves, but he can also use his amazing ability in a defensive way (For instance, there is AV Magearna in front of you, you won't do much with HP Fire, but using it allows you to better tank Magearna's STABs thanks to Fire typing). However, Greninja struggles to tank well even resisted hits sue to his frailty and his offensives stats are way more appealing, but The Chameleon could have better defensives stats in order to make this strategy usable.

In the case of Porygon-Z, he's quite similar to Greninja, which means he uses Z-Conversion to an offensive way due to his Spa and ability, even though the defensive boost is very appreciated. But Porugon-Z will use few typings, those handful for sweeping and he needs a good STAB to become a threat. So the Chameleon could be able to use other typing with or without an offensive goal, your first move doesn't have to be an STAB, and Conversion could be used even without Normalium-z, as long as you're first move is the one you need to get the most helpful typing.

I even think that Color Change has competitive value, since you can get a good typing to check the opposing Pokemon as long as you switch on the right move ( Zard-Y Fire Blast, Volkraken Hydro Pump, Tapu Koko Thunderbolt...). Some Choice users are gonna hate you.

I don't have many idea concerning Reflect Type as I think that Latias-Mega is already an excellent user of it, especially with Levitate when something Gound weak like Bisharp switch on it.

Finally, there are "off game shift-typing abilities" like RKS System (and Multitype). Silvally may be too flawed to bring anything to the metagame, so a Pokemon with better offensive and/or defensive capabilities could work.

Such a Pokemon could fulfill other Concepts like "Utilkty counter".
 
  • Name - Matchup Defiant
  • Description - A Pokemon whose matchups are the opposite of those who play a similar role to it - that is, CAP23 will match up well against Pokemon who normally have a good match up against Pokemon who play a similar role to CAP23.
  • Justification This Pokemon will partly fall into all three categories, although as a raw concept it would most likely be Actualization. However, once the CAP process would begin, it'd move more into Archetype.
    • Actualization: We are actualizing the idea of a unique Pokemon that defies a role's standards and typical Pokemon. I'll clarify in the explanation part of the submission, since its rather clunky and involves an example.
    • Archetype: I've talked about roles a lot, and you've probably noticed that I haven't set a specific role that this CAP would perform. And that's the fun thing: there's nothing that restricts how we want to approach this. We can pick any role, and try to smash the standard matchups of it. If this is too widespread and difficult, sure I can just give you all a role that'd be fun to pick apart, but where's the fun in that? Anyways... once the role we want is picked, the concept fits better into Archetype because we will be focusing on every minute detail of other Pokemon who fit into certain team roles, and then completely turning the standards on their heads while still making our CAP perform the same task. We can decide through discussion why the metagame would need a Pokemon of the role we choose.
    • Target: This CAP is literally designed to perform a role, do well against most Pokemon that other Pokemon in the same role struggle against, and have a completely new set of issues. Of course this is Target in a huge way. Everything is based on the current checks and counters that are viable and used in the metagame, the intrinsic interactions of Typing, and the fine lines of what makes a Pokemon in the CAP meta good/bad against certain other Pokemon. We'd have to craft every aspect constantly with the utmost attention to the metagame. And think about it: By defying the expectations of a role, you are essentially defying the expectations of the metagame.
Essentially, this concept is Actualizing a seldom-done idea in Pokemon of breaking the normal matchups, working with a certain Archetype of Pokemon to create a unique and unusual Pokemon of the role, and Targets defying the entire typical standards of the metagame and Pokemon of a certain role.
  • Questions To Be Answered -
  • - Is it even possible to completely reverse normally unfavorable matchups for Pokemon performing certain roles?
  • - In what role would it be most interesting to have a Pokemon that stands out from the others?
  • - How can matchups be completely reversed when part of the reason the matchups exist are because it is performing its respective role?
  • - How will a Pokemon that defies the current standards of the metagame change team compositions as a whole?
  • - How centralizing will a Pokemon be that is strong against things that similar-role Pokemon struggle against?
  • - Would the metagame adapt to it, seeing as the current counters and checks to this role would be ineffective? Or would it remain the same, upon discovering that some Pokemon currently strong in the metagame can effectively pressure/counter it?
  • Explanation -
  • Alright, first of all, I'll go ahead and explain the "Actualization" part of the justification. This CAP will perform a role. Let's say it'd be, oh, a Dual-Screener. Think of Klefki, Cresselia, and Bronzong. These Pokemon all perform a similar role. They all struggles because of being too passive, making them easy setup bait for the likes of Mega Scizor, or just make them often a deadweight on the team in general if the enemy has Defog. CAP23 would focus on having an offensive presence and a typing that lets it break the most common dangers to the most common Dual Screens users. By doing this though, it would of course open up a whole new set of its own weaknesses.
  • The discussion phase of this CAP concept would be excruciatingly difficult to execute, and I recommend to everyone that unless you want a challenge, this is not the concept for you. Choose this if you feel like stepping outside of boundaries and going into a project with more breathing room for building and variety, but much more difficulty in discussion and decisions. This is among the more abstract concepts here. The main challenge would be deciding on what role we'd like to see this CAP perform, since there's not really anything specifically dictating what it should look like in the end role-wise. I believe this concept of matchup-reversing would be fascinating to work on, really help us gain knowledge about why Pokemon match against eachother in certain ways, improve our knowledge of the metagame, checks, and counters, and overall be very difficult.
Clarification: The concept is along the lines of "Most hazard removal Pokemon struggle against Mega Sableye, but this one won't." It focuses on being different than other Pokemon of the same role and doing well against what they normally can't win against.

And also, cheers to Snake for helping me out with working on phrasing and concept development. Thanks a ton!
 
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  • Name - Bravest of All
  • Description - A subpar CAP who's saving grace is a highly competitive ability
  • Justification - In the XY metagame we were introduced to a strange Pokemon, Talonflame. This Pokemon despite its strange typing and abysmal stats it was a highly known OU threat due to its extremely powerful ability, Gale Wings, that allowed it to out prioritize other Pokemon to either heal its self with Roost or deal massive damage with Brave Bird. Talonflame set an example for what could happen when you give a sub-par Pokemon an amazing ability(ies), and I believe CAP 23 should live by Talonflame's example and show the community how far a great ability(ies) can take sub-par Pokemon.
  • Target: - With my concept I wish to address the importance of abilities to the metagame and see if a Pokemon that is intentionally made with lackluster typing and stats simply focused on its ability could do something for the metagame.

  • Questions to be Answered :
    • - How much does a CAP's ability impact it's viability? What makes a "good" ability good?
    • - Would this CAP be too centralized towards one playstyle?Would it have multiple good abilities that support different playstyles?
    • - Would this CAP be too easily stopped by mons that counter that ability?Would the CAP become a to great threat to the mons that lose to that ability?
    • - What can the community learn from a CAP made with lackluster typing and stats?
    • - What makes it possible to make a pokemon that relies so heavily on its ability to function?
  • Explanation - In all instances of a CAP being based around an ability its a good CAP made to use a bad ability e.i Cyclohm, but this CAP would challenge that status quo and be a bad CAP made for a good ability. It would be interesting to see what we as a community could learn from a pokemon who only has one competitively viable feature.
 
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Deck Knight

Blast Off At The Speed Of Light! That's Right!
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Was going to submit a concept around Z-Moves but Birkal basically beat me to it. Only difference is I was going to name mine: Goku (Ultimate Z-Warrior)
 
  • Name: Split Down The Middle
  • Description: This CAP can function in two roles, but only one at any given time, otherwise it falls flat.
  • Justification: Unpredictability can often lead to success in play. Unexpected coverage moves, mixing up plays, and even using mons not often seen can lead people to victory. Of course, however, near every mon is defined by a single role, and often there is a mon that can counter that role, regardless of the set. Sure, you can surprise people by using a defensive mon in an offensive role, or an offensive mon in a support role, but the benefits of that surprise, when compared to using a proper mon of that role, will almost certainly be outweighed. So, are there mons that can fill multiple roles? We have things like Arcanine, Dragonite, and Goodra (as well as others) all of which can be run in multiple fashions (Arcanine can run both offense and defense, and Dragonite/Goodra have the power to go mixed, or even support with some success). But all of them can mix roles to deceptive success, which can distract from a true, effective role, especially to newer players who want to accomplish everything with one mon. What if there was a mon that could still surprise opponents by having multiple roles it can fill to full effectiveness, but couldn't mix them to any success?
    • Actualization: The point of this mon is to help analyze proper move composition, especially for new players, but also to remain viable in top level play in either of its roles. With mons like Arcanine, people might be tempted to utilize recovery or Will-o on an offensive set, or E-Speed/Wild Charge on a defensive/support set. This isn't always a bad thing, but people might be put into a mindset of thinking that putting a poor mixture of moves always leads to success. ("Oh, Gallade gets Will-o-Wisp, I should use that.") This mon would keep things simple, by discouraging outlandish mixtures of moves. By discouraging throwing a move onto a mon for the sake of having it, it can lead to more thought being put into sets in the future, and in turn can lead to both better teambuilding and creativity (As instead of people using moves on the wrong set, they can think of a set to use that move with that will truely succeed). There really aren't any mons like this in the current metagame, that truely split the two widely different roles it can perform.
  • Questions to be Answered:
    • In what method would be the most effective to split this mon (move incompatibility, vastly different abilities, specific stats)?
    • How could we use the surprise of multiple roles to the mons advantage without making it too punishing if a guess is wrong?
    • Could this truely function as fun mon for beginners while also remain a viable option for experienced players?
  • Explanation: Many mons are seen as "beginner's traps", where they seem great to new players but are either used incorrectly or just plain bad. This mon, however, is meant to be a positive version of that. It's meant to guide the player, by removing all of its success when it isn't using things right for the role it should fill. In turn, it leads the player to stick to proper moves and abilities to achieve success with it, and eventually start to think about how to keep a mon viable while still being creative with a set, something very important in teambuilding. Of course, this mon should be viable so that it can encourage those proper sets with success, and to remain an asset to teams where the player is more competent.
 
Name: Terrain Seed Abuser

Description: A Pokemon that effectively utilizes one or more of Electric Seed, Grassy Seed, Misty Seed, or Psychic Seed in the CAP metagame.

Justification: This concept aims to bring one or more of the terrain seeds into usage by creating a Pokemon that's specifically designed to take advantage of them. As such, this concept is a hybrid of Actualization and Archetype. Analyzing the facets of these underused items in the context of the CAP metagame will allow us actualize their usage by making them viable item choices for our creation. Due to the very nature of these items, this concept aims to effectively design a different kind of terrain abuser, ultimately creating a new role in the metagame. In doing so, we'll be able to explore and learn more about the effects of terrain on the metagame, and how a seed abuser can help strengthen terrain archetypes.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Generally speaking, what kind of Pokemon benefits the most from the effects of a terrain seed?
  • What role does an ideal terrain seed abuser have on a team?
  • Which terrains are the most prominent in the CAP metagame?
  • Which terrains provide the most useful effects for an ideal terrain seed abuser?
  • Should CAP 23 have the ability to benefit from multiple terrains, or should it work best in one specific terrain?
  • How can CAP 23 be used to strengthen certain terrain cores?
  • Should this Pokemon be capable of running other items effectively?

Explanation: The four terrain seeds are items with unseen potential in the CAP metagame. In OU, Hawlucha utilizes the Defense boost from Electric Seed to ease its setup as a fast, frail Swords Dance sweeper. The slower, bulkier Necrozma occasionally uses Grassy Seed or Electric Seed to become a nearly unbreakable Calm Mind sweeper under the right conditions. However, these two Pokemon are far from ideal users of the terrain seeds, and are hardly ever seen in the CAP metagame due to the numerous additional roadblocks they face. None of the currently existing CAP Pokemon make for good users of the terrain seeds either. As a result, the terrain seeds are virtually unseen in the CAP metagame. This concept aims to change that by designing a Pokemon that can effectively utilize one or more of these items.

Over the past 22 CAP projects, we've had many concepts that focus on specific attributes of a Pokemon. We've worked hard together to maximize the potential of underrated typings, abilities, and even specific moves! However, we've yet to tackle a concept that is truly item-centric, and this concept does just that by seeking to maximize the potential of these items. Moreover, by focusing on the terrain seeds, the CAP community will get to discuss one of the hot new Gen 7 mechanics (terrain) and the impact it has on our metagame.
 
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