To be honest, I was worried about returning to CAP as Head Moderator. There is a lot of pressure in this role, and there was a lot riding on CAP24 for me personally as a result. To say I was nervous about this all is a bit of an understatement!
End result? I couldn't be more proud of the work that went on here over the past several months.
Drapionswing absolutely knocked it out of the park with some great insights both on the forums and Discord. It can be difficult to set a balance of being involved, yet hands off, as a Topic Leader, but Drapion did a phenomenal job. Really looking forward to working with you more in the future, man! Also, you were REAL close to #90days; I s'pose
93 days is pretty close, but maybe this will give you some incentive to come back and try again, eh ;)?
Drew's concept (congrats on the win!) of dual weather also broke new ground in CAP, and the Leadership Team did amazing work on navigating some treacherous waters. The end of Concept Discussion (
here) is particularly heartwarming to read, as I personally feel that Jumbao checks all these boxes. Big shoutouts to
SHSP to being relatively new to CAP, yet handling a
total bear of a typing discussion. Seriously, go through and read Typing Discussion -- it must have been a nightmare to make that slate. All other TLs did an amazing job as well, and I don't say that lightly. Pairing Trace to a Sand team is something I absolutely would not have considered, but Drew had the foresight to see how helpful it would be -- I am currently running a Wishpass CAP24 set with sand offense and
love switching in on Heatran.
reachzero killed it with stats, as Jumbao feels powerful, yet not overwhelmingly so. And
mxmts, another new face, took on one of the hardest TL stages and made it look effortless. I think there is a lot to be said about Jumbao lacking a strong Fire-type offensive move, and while it proved controversial, I am glad mxmts stood their ground. Between Flame Burst and HP Ground, Jumbao has the tools it needs.
Competitively, CAP24 was a homerun, with bases fully loaded.
And that doesn't even mention the flavor! Grass-type is my favorite typing flavorwise (has been for the two decades I've played Pokemon), and Fairy-type can't be far behind. I was incredibly honored to take sixth in the art polls. It was striking how involved the CAP artistic community has become, with Discord (#flavor) being a spectacular resource to chat and create. Throughout the process, the following artists all drew fanart of my Mirage design:
Pipotchi (
here),
StephXPM (
here),
Golurkyourself (
here),
Sgt.Moose (
here), and
paintseagull (
here). It was actually really daunting to have so many competent artists riffing my design, but they truly did help shape my end product into something I couldn't've been more proud of. Also, huge thanks to
Zephias,
FriesforNapkins,
Sunfished, and all of the other artists in #flavor that helped me to grow.
As much as I loved my design, there was one I wanted to win even more: Pipotchi's Baobab design. That was a bit startling for me to realize -- I always fall in love with my own designs; I wouldn't make them if I didn't. But the baobab tree was impossibly cute and fit everything we'd done up to that point competitively. It felt deep down that pip had a winner on his hands from the very start. I remember a conversation with pip where I asked him to try the design with a :> face instead of a :< face. He changed it, and it stuck from there on out! The flavor is just incredible, and our Pokedex and flavor abilities support it well. The 3D model is nothing short of mind-numbingly fabulous, so massive kudos to
QxC4eva for heading up that project, and in such a short time! You modelers are the new lifeblood of CAP flavor, so keep it up! Another strange sensation I felt this CAP: I have never been more enamored with a CAP name than Jumbao. It couldn't be more perfect, so thanks for your ingenuity,
BaffleTome!
And while the Topic Leadership Team and Drapionswing did incredible leadership work, my leadership MVP would go out to
Quanyails for CAP24. If you all saw the amount of work Quan did behind the scenes, you would be floored. From constantly updating discussions to posting threads at a reasonable time, Quan was constantly available and thinking hard. Poll results got to you in a timely fashion due to their dedication. Congrats on a super strong second place finish in art, AND the winning sprite! As soon as you make an animated icon, I will be sure to update my Smogon banner with Jumbao.
That about wraps it up. The fact that Jumbao has me out on the CAP ladder again (something I haven't done for several years) is a minor miracle in and of itself. Thanks to everyone who was involved in this project. And while CAP 25 is being labeled as a "celebration," this to me was a more true celebration of CAP talent and what it has grown to be over the past several years. Low drama, intense discussions, and crazy ridiculous talent all bundled into one forum. The nerves I once housed are gone -- the CAP Project is in amazing hands with all of you for many years to come.
