CAP 25g
In order to best utilize Galvanize and our typing, should CAP 25g be oriented more strongly towards an offensive or defensive role?
Looking at the threats list, should CAP25g be more physically or specially focused (or mixed) both offensively and defensively?
So I think the first question is obvious - absolutely, 100%, we NEED to be offensive. We simply don't have a good enough defensive typing to make a real go of it in the current meta.
As to the second, here's the thing - I want Physical. You want Physical. We all want Physical. Physical gives us insane Returns as well as powerful priority and some utility (Hazard removal, mostly). But let's look at our threatlist:
Toxapex: Defensive, SpD: Since it can be either, we would need to be Mixed to beat ALL sets. If we focus on one stat, we'll beat whatever we match well against and probably lose to the other, but we do have an easier time if we are Special since we can come in on Scald without fear. Indeed, a sufficiently powerful special electric attack can actually chew threw "the Pex" (AKA Specially Defensive Toxapex).
Gastrodon: all sets: We will beat this with any ol Grass stab, Special or Physical, so consideration should be that some bulk would be nice (we don't resist Earthquake), and to get bulked we should not be mixed.
Rotom-w: all sets: Tends to run as Physically Defensive and use Scald, so will be easier to beat as a Special attacker.
Tapu Fini: Defensive: Tends to just be generically bulky, and will be easily managed whether we are Special or Physical. Again, it'd be good to pick instead of trying to do both, as we don't resist Moonblast and will need some bulk.
Skarmory: all sets: While we won't have much trouble against ol' Skarm no matter what we choose, we will have an easier time if we are Special-biased, as this will mean we should be able to clean OHKO the birdplane without any support from our team.
Tomohawk: Defensive: We've only specifically targeted standard defensive Tomo. While we should beat it no matter what, again we will clean OHKO it without rocks support if we lean Special. Also again, we do not resist Air Slash, Earth Power, or Aura Sphere (its most common offensive moves), so a little bulk goes a long way.
Kartana: Scarf: I...don't know why this is on the list, as we're going to need insane bulk to stomach multiple Sacred Swords or insane speed to race it. It also resists both our STABs. That all being said, we clearly would want some bulk here to have any chance, and going Special means we can just kill it with (Hidden Power) Fire.
Naviathan: Calm Mind: Amusingly enough, I think we're better off Special here. We can still net a clean OHKO with electric coverage even if Naviathan gets to +1, and the risk of coming in on a Scald and getting burned is disastrous as suddenly we just can't beat it.
Clefable: Defensive (without Flamethrower): Most Clefable invest in Physical bulk, meaning we will struggle to beat it unless we go Special. At the risk of being a broken record, being mixed is not ideal as even without Flamethrower we aren't going to love eating Moonblasts and Knock Offs.
Fidgit: Utility: This is ever so slightly tilted in favor of Physical imo, as even though Fidgit tends to invest in physical bulk, the physical grass STAB has less drawbacks. Still, we could definitely plan for Special being fine here with the right moves (mostly a move with BP 120+). The important thing, once again, is that Fidgit can actually hit us surprisingly hard with Earth Power and U-turn and as a result, trying to be mixed is a bad plan. We want to hit as hard as we can, and we want to have enough bulk to eat the inevitable U-turn out (hopefully with the Speed to at least punish Fidgit for trying to do its normal nonsense - or is that enough of a lack of speed to outspeed it in trick room? Now my head hurts).
Jirachi: Defensive: Spoiler - This is the only clean and unambiguous win for us needing to go Physical, as Jirachi tends to be specially defensive and a special attacking set will thus struggle to threaten Jirachi enough to stop it from Wish-Turning as planned.
Ferrothorn: all sets - It's a bit of a wash, and recall that part of our conversation was that we're mutually unable to hurt each other. If we REALLY want to preserve that, we should be Physical to make it utterly, utterly hopeless - being Special means we can kill it with (HP) Fire.
Now, that's 12 Pokemon in the meta we said we wanted to switch-in on multiple times and threaten out/kill. If we're counting, that is 6 where we ought to be Special to have the best odds, 3 where it doesn't matter but we need to pick one and not be mixed, 1 where we need to be Physical, 1 where we need to be Mixed or Special, and 1 where we need to be Special to threaten it, and Physical to not, and its unclear which of those we want to be true. Overall, the overwhelming weight would be towards us being a powerful Special attacker, and also the overwhelming weight is towards us not being Mixed, as we simply don't have a good enough defensive typing to let our Resists to all the work. I would hasten to add that the one Physical contender is not commonly seen in the meta, while many of those Special targets are in A, A+, or S-rank.
That isn't the entire story for 25g, but as I look at the rest of the list, it definitely feels like we're wanting to be a Special Attacker despite my desires...
PROS for being a PHYSICAL ATTACKER:
- Less risk to our Checks/Counters list. Specifically, we can't use Hidden Power: Poison to kill Jumbao or HP: Ground to kill Magnezone or Heatran, both possibilities if we are specially biased.
- Lets us tango with Magearna, which of the two conditional 'mons on are C&C list is definitely the more prevalent in the meta.
- While we'll Pressure our Pressure list no matter what, we definitely win on more mutual switches if we are physical with some Extremely strong priority in our arsenal. Specifically it helps us out versus Greninja, Tornadus-T, Volkraken, and Offensive Tomohawk.
- Matches up better versus AV Colossoil, which will be a common stop to our electric shenanigans.
- Is more "unique", and has some additional utility options - we could still have those utility options if Special, but of course they are better coming off a high physical attack (especially a certain Explosive suicide lead move).
PROS for being a SPECIAL ATTACKER:
- Gives us a possibility of using HP: Ice against some particularly dangerous threats to our build such as Landorus-T and Zygarde. The theory of Galvanize is that our Grass coverage can help us beat things immune to electricity, but that only matters in practice against Colossoil in this meta. This is minor, as we can just give our 'mon actual real Ice coverage if we decide to go Physical and still wanna beat these two down. However I would point out on the other hand that Lando and Zygarde tend to be physically bulky (Lando has intimidate on top of that), making Physical coverage rough compared to muscling through it with neutral Grass STAB on the Special side.
- Gives us STAB and max power on a useful Pivoting move, if we desire it.
- Has the higher damage options for Grass STAB. Generally will have higher BP moves, if we desire them.
- Can bypass Subs with Galvanize Sound moves - this is super minor, as the most common sub users in the meta are currently Zygarde (immune) and Necturna (resists all STABs and blows us up). Worth considering to make sure we still beat 25w though.
On balance that's one more notch for Physical than Special and the points in favor of physical are generally stronger, but I don't know that it overcomes all the major advantages of Special in terms of actually helping us switch-in on and threaten stuff.
EDIT: Cleaned a few things. Also in terms of our own bulk, I don't know. Most of what scares us is Special (Tomo Air Slashes, various STAB Moon Blasts from random faeries, Scalds from random passive waters), but the hardest matchup we have is Flame Orb Colossoil and Kartana, both of whom are going to need considerable physical bulk.
