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With limits decided, we move onto stat spreads themselves, still led by Jho. Now it's time to put those limits into action in your spreads!
In this thread, you may post work-in-progress and final stat spreads for the community and the TLT's consideration, and make comments on other peoples' submissions. The Stats Leader, Jho will decide on a slate for voting based on the community's input. In the Stats Limits thread, the Stats Leader decided on the following limits:
Limits:
Physical Sweepiness: Limit is 95 Physical Tankiness: Limit is 160 Special Sweepiness: Limit is 135 Special Tankiness: Limit is 200
BSR ABUSE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND WILL NOT BE SLATED!
BSR abuse is doing things like 150 HP and 70 Def/SpD to create a theoretical optimum with the limits that you have. The purpose of the stat rating limits is to restrict what submitters can do, not to give them a license to game the system. If you cannot justify your stats legitimately and have not proven that you aren't just making the best stats within the limits, you will not get slated.
A spreadsheet for calculating the biases can be found here. The formulas themselves can be found here. Do not use the BSR calculator on-site, as it is designed for DPP BSR. To use the spreadsheet, you will need Microsoft Excel 2007 or higher, OpenOffice.org Calc 3 or higher, or a similar spreadsheet program that can handle .xlsx files. Alternatively, you can upload the spreadsheet onto Google docs. You must have the stat rating values listed correctly in your submission or it will be ignored for the slate.
When you are satisfied with your stat submission, mark it as finished by writing "Final Submission" (bolded) at the top of your post.
------------------ CAP 26 so far:
Dogfish44 said:
Name - The Future is Bright!
Description - A Pokemon that makes usage of the 'delayed-attack' moves - Future Sight and/or Doom Desire
Justification - Given we're attempting to create a Pokemon that uses one of two specific moves, this is an Actualisation concept. Future Sight and Doom Desire are incredibly unique moves, which see limited usage in spite of their high base power, and ability to have a target Pokemon struck twice in the same turn. In using CAP26, the aim is to create a Pokemon that inspires a feeling of being able to trap opponents, to establish win-win situations.
Questions To Be Answered -
One Pokemon which has been seen to fairly reliably use Future Sight is Slowking. What can we learn from Slowking about what makes a viable user of Future Sight? On the same token, what has led Jirachi to not be effective at using Doom Desire, and other Pokemon to not effectively use Future Sight?
What is the optimum usage of Future Sight/Doom Desire, both on the turn immediately after using the move, and the turn on which the move will land?
Should the user of Future Sight/Doom Desire be primarily helping itself, or other teammates. If helping itself, what is the aim? If helping teammates, then what types of teammate?
Are Z-Future Sight and Z-Doom Desire mandatory, or just useful tools?
Explantion - Doom Desire is almost one we've done before, as people from the era of Cawmodore probably remember. Whilst little has changed since then, we have seen Future Sight get another power level increase since then.
This isn't a case of using a move which we know can't be used - we can look to Slowking (Future Sight) or Dialga (Balanced Hackmons, Doom Desire) for inspiration on what makes these moves workable. At the same time, we know that they're not automatic locks in spite of their high base power, allowing us room to explore what makes these moves often fall flat.
The beauty of Future Sight and Doom Desire as concept leads is that they don't massively restrict our ability to choose a direction right from the gate - focussing on these moves for their ability to strike twice in a single turn likely produces a Pokemon that is very different from focussing on these moves for their ability to force specific Pokemon out for a teammate to switch in. Whether we create a Pokemon that breaks walls, or pivots around, or supports a very specific partner, or something else entirely, these moves make for a concept that should be both interesting to implement, and with many avenues to explore.
Alright, the time for stat subs in finally here! Now, we know our limits, our pressure list, and have a rough idea of the role we want CAP26 to perform on a team. What I'm mainly looking for in subs is sound competitive reasoning behind your spreads, backed up with relevant calcs and game knowledge. Basically calc anything and everything that may be relevant at all to 26's strength as a Doom Desire pivot, and use these calcs to craft your arguments around the stats you submit.
That is basically all I have to say, as I know everyone is anxious to start making and submitting stat spreads. Please remember to ensure your BSR spreadsheet is up to date before you put a lot of effort into crafting your spread!
Physical Tankiness: 159.085 Special Tankiness: 199.5310826 Physical Sweepiness: 61.98944928 Special Sweepiness: 103.4848852
BSR: 280.55384
Weight: unspecified. I'm comfortable leaving this up to flavor, seeing as how we aren't intended to have a specific matchup with Protean Greninja.
My spread is focused entirely on making a bulky, hard-hitting CAP that really uses Doom Desire. It outspeeds a couple notable walls, but mainly this defensive pivot would rely on tanking weak and resisted hits in order to set-up the checkmate scenarios that have been discussed. I pushed the limits in terms of defense, maxing out the values for both physical tankiness and special tankiness, while also providing a sizable 128 Special Attack stat to score important knockouts on crucial targets. I chose a seemingly uninspired 40 base speed stat for a few reasons. While Trick Room is a niche playstyle in CAP, it allows us to underspeed min speed Magearna, one of the best offensive TR setters in the tier, with just normal IVs and a Modest nature. This is achievable while still comfortably outspeeding Toxapex in order to secure the Earth Power 2HKO.
I purposefully created this spread to have rather low Special Sweepiness compared to my competitors. I wanted to highlight a real weakness for CAP 26, rather than just submit the all-around strongest stats, which is simply a matter of deciding a speed tier and then plugging in numbers to reach every possible limit (except the unimportant Physical Sweepiness). I've noticed that questions of balance seem to get lost during the stat submission part of this process, in favor of achieving "the strongest possible spread" within the Topic Leader's set limits. Given that this is our last stage before movesets, and therefore our second-to-last chance to affect the balance of our CAP, I think we need to take a more nuanced approach here. As this mon is finally coming together, I think we've really carved out a role in the metagame for an "ideal user of Doom Desire" thanks to an incredible typing/ability combination. But I'm concerned about us handicapping ourselves in the movepool stage if we make something too strong, too bulky, and too fast. That could force us to deny tools like recovery, setup, phasing, or pivoting moves, which might be important pieces of the puzzle, due to overall balance concerns. What does all this mean? It means that I think underspeeding Mega Mawile, Celesteela, and Magearna is a valid way to keep our power in check. Especially in regards to the first of the three, I think being able to switch into "the ultimate wallbreaker" and force it out is an unnecessary and extraneous amount of power to give CAP 26. The only other mons in the metagame than can reliably achieve this are Heatran and the ultra-rare Pyroak. Many viable Steel-type pivots/walls such as Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Jirachi cannot switch-in on Mawile, and therefore demonstrate that being a full counter to the hardest hitting Pokemon in the tier is not a necessary role for a Sp. Def Steel type. My stat spread checks Mawile without making the jump to full counter, which I think saves significantly more power budget for a movepool that will augment our Doom Desire-based gameplay.
This is the deciding calc for 128 Special Attack. Tornadus is a dominant force in the metagame and all of its variants should fear a Doom Desire. 252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 271-321 (75 - 88.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
One-shotting Cyclohm is another great outcome of a running maximum Sp. Attack investment and a Modest nature. 252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Cyclohm: 428-506 (101.9 - 120.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Our Sp. Attack stat means we can easily 2HKO fully Sp. Def Toxapex, who we will also be outspeeding. 252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 182-216 (59.8 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
CAP 26 is shaping up to be one of the best Landorus switch-ins in the metagame (although it still has options against us thanks to Smack Down). 252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 300-354 (94 - 110.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
We also will be a strong switch-in to Garchomp and should pack just enough punch to knock out offensive variants with a couple Earth Powers. 252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 184-217 (51.3 - 60.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Defensive Scizor can't use us as set-up bait and is forced to Roost if we catch it with Earth Power as it comes in. 252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 16 SpD Scizor-Mega: 157-186 (45.7 - 54.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Shift Gear Magearna doesn't stand a chance unless it's running Fightinium Z, and even then it needs a bit of chip damage to reliably knock us out. 252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 284-336 (94.3 - 111.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Calm Mind + Pain Split Magearna will eventually fall to repeated Earth Power spam. Even at +2 Sp. Def, it takes too much damage from Earth Power to keep setting up, and it won't be recovering a ton against us thanks to our naturally low HP stat. We will have ways to improve this match-up during the movepool stage, but until then a low HP stat means we aren't giving it a free Max Potion everytime it catches us on the switch with Pain Split. 252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. +2 248 HP / 44 SpD Magearna: 138-164 (38 - 45.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
Special Attacks:
We will be one of the few mons it the metagame that can eat a couple Specs Psychics from Lele, even without significant Sp. Def investment. 252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Steelix in Psychic Terrain: 118-139 (33.9 - 39.9%) -- 67.5% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
With Leftovers, we live Psychic into Focus Blast from Mega Alakazam. Having Mantine-level special bulk has its benefits. 252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Steelix: 65-77 (18.6 - 22.1%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Steelix: 232-274 (66.6 - 78.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
A couple of Shift Gear Magearna's Focus Blasts can take us out if it decides not to set up, but that is hardly reliable 2HKO thanks to FB's accuracy. 252 SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Steelix: 186-220 (53.4 - 63.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Although Tornadus-T does not commonly run Fightinium-Z, it's an option that has great coverage with Hurricane. I felt this calc worth including. 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Steelix: 260-308 (74.7 - 88.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
We fair pretty well against Cylcohm's Flamethrower, although Fire Blast is a 3HKO. 4 SpA Cyclohm Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Steelix: 124-148 (35.6 - 42.5%) -- 99.4% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Physical Attacks:
Obviously this is an important calc, although I wanted to push our physical defense further than just not being 2HKOd by Specs Lele's Psyshock. 252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix in Psychic Terrain: 126-148 (36.2 - 42.5%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Not being 2HKOd by Choice Band Kitsunoh is a nice bonus to maxing out physical defense, assuming we avoid a Shadow Strike defense drop. 252 Atk Choice Band Kitsunoh Shadow Strike vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 144-169 (41.3 - 48.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
The Banded Syclant match-up is unfortunately also a toss up, although this could be remedied with a bit of EV investment. 252 Atk Choice Band Syclant Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 165-195 (47.4 - 56%) -- 50.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
This spread checks All-Out Attacker Mega Mawile, thanks to its ability to comfortably eat any attack and knock her out with a Ground STAB. 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 264-312 (75.8 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Running a Z-Crystal would also allow us to counter common variants of Swords Dance Mawile, minimizing the damage from +2 Knock Off. +2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 237-279 (68.1 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 229-270 (65.8 - 77.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Landorus is the first of two offensive rockers I wanted us to live a boosted Z-move from. +2 252 Atk Landorus-Therian Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 264-312 (75.8 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
The other is Garchomp, who is equally impotent against us. +2 252 Atk Garchomp Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 265-312 (76.1 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
What sets my spread apart from other spreads that also hit both the PT and ST limits is that I have saved a bigger power budget for the movepool stage. The lack of a decent speed tier or overwhelming offensive stats means that my SS is a clear and exploitable weakness. Between our strong typing and strong ability, and the amazing synergy between the two, I think we need to be careful during this part of the process if we want to fulfill the concept. We can't afford to deny critical moves out of general balance concerns. Let's not create another "Smokomodo situation" here.
Physical Tankiness: 146.028 Special Tankiness: 199.301 Physical Sweepiness: 66.853 Special Sweepiness: 126.403
BSR: 289.964
Designed to run HP-248 SpA-212+ SpD-48. With these is barely survives Tapu Lele's SpA-252 All-Out Pummeling after Stealth Rock damage and is barely able to one-shot a Tornadus-Therian with HP-252 SpD-0 that has taken Stealth Rock damage with Doom Desire. It is also barely able to survive 2 Ice Punches from a Mega-Mawile after Stealth Rock damage (Ice Punch does more damage than Sucker Punch or Knock Off). Spe puts it right ahead of uninvested Malaconda. Atk is just to get it to 580, it could be lower or higher. Also a SpA-252+ flash cannon is not guaranteed to one-shot Tapu Lele, which encourages use of Doom Desire. The low HP stat also hurts Pain Split Magearna a little bit. With regard to Low Kick my spread wants to be under 200kg due to Stealth Rocks, but I could move a little Atk to Def to fix this if necessary (59/111->55/115).
I could increase Def, SpA, and Spe to 121, 143, and 59 respectively, but I am trying to keep CAP26 from being unnecessarily strong, so I just gave it what it needed for the cutoffs I used.
137 / 50 / 77 / 116 / 96 / 69 (BST: 545)
This allows allows it to survive 2 choice specs tapu lele psyshocks after stealth rocks and a tapu lele all out pummeling after stealth rocks with investment.
116 just barely prevents flash cannon from one-shoting tapu lele with 252+ and keeps flash cannon from 2 shoting a few other meta mons thus encouraging use of doom desire.
69 speed gets it past magearna but not mega-swampert and 50 attack is just to even things out
Low kick is not all that much of a concern as long as we are under 200 kg. I don't expect us to be under 50 be if we are this set benefits
If you want to find decent bulk combinations, make a copy of this sheet. Values are easily edited (so if you're happy with your current ST, but want to shift your PT, you can plug that in to find statlines which are appropriate), so should save the trawling through specific statlines on Excel (not that I ever did that in previous CAPs, noooope...).
Weight: Sub-200kg (LK/GK 100 BP or Less). Low Kick at 120 BP leaves a very slim chance that the 'easy' EV Spread I used throughout calcs would get OHKOd after Rocks. 100 BP or less avoids said problem.
-------------------------
EV Spread:
I'll be using Calm 204 HP / 252 SpD / 52 Spe throughout these calculations, as our speed tier does encourage us to outpace CMSplit Magearna. A set with 120 HP and 136 Speed is also sort of valid if you want to break past Mega Mawile's standard investment, but I don't think that's realistically seeing much play.
Calculations:
PT
244 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 416-492 (93.2 - 110.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Excadrill in Psychic Terrain: 174-204 (39 - 45.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 340-400 (76.2 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Fire Fang vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 316-374 (70.8 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Protean Greninja Hammer Arm vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 312-368 (69.9 - 82.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Chip Damage Samples
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Smack Down vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 17-20 (3.8 - 4.4%) -- possibly the worst move ever
252 Atk Landorus-Therian U-turn vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 49-58 (10.9 - 13%) -- possibly the worst move ever
0- Atk Tapu Koko U-turn vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 30-36 (6.7 - 8%) -- possibly the worst move ever
ST
252 SpA Tapu Lele All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 294-348 (65.9 - 78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill in Psychic Terrain: 78-93 (17.4 - 20.8%) -- possible 7HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Hidden Power Fire vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 140-166 (31.3 - 37.2%) -- 1.4% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 186-220 (41.7 - 49.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 232-274 (52 - 61.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 232-274 (52 - 61.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Heatran Lava Plume vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 152-182 (34 - 40.8%) -- 83.3% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 254-302 (56.9 - 67.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock, Leftovers recovery, and trapping damage
252 SpA Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 218-258 (48.8 - 57.8%) -- 77% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Greninja Hydro Vortex (185 BP) vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 366-432 (82 - 96.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Krilowatt Surf vs. 204 HP / 252+ SpD Excadrill: 203-242 (45.5 - 54.2%) -- 18% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
SS
0 SpA Excadrill Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 328-388 (84.9 - 100.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Excadrill Earth Power vs. 180 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 248-294 (86.7 - 102.7%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock 252 SpA Excadrill Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Lele: 228-270 (81.1 - 96%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Excadrill Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 210-248 (69.7 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Excadrill Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Volkraken: 236-282 (69.2 - 82.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Doom Desire, Ahoy!
Basically going through A+ and S on the VR and showing what DD does KO or deal major damage to - proof of usability - and what it doesn't (which we do sort of need for Checkmates to be valid). I'll also include Z-DDs across those non-OHKO calcs, though rule of thumb is that x1.5 damage is close enough.
As a quick TL;DR: Doom Desire is strong enough to deal major damage to Tapu Lele, M-Ala, Auru, and Tornadus-T, falls flat against common bulky mons (and, for obvious reasons, Volkraken). Found it interesting how well it fares against Greninja, especially since Gren's ability to change types is an interesting dynamic in how DD would function.
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Lele: 324-384 (115.3 - 136.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam-Mega: 177-208 (70.5 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 0 SpA Excadrill Corkscrew Crash (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam-Mega: 252-297 (100.3 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Aurumoth: 276-325 (76.4 - 90%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock 0 SpA Excadrill Corkscrew Crash (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Aurumoth: 394-465 (109.1 - 128.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 201-237 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 0 SpA Excadrill Corkscrew Crash (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 288-339 (79.5 - 93.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Greninja: 122-144 (42.8 - 50.5%) -- 94.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Greninja: 244-288 (85.6 - 101%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 52 HP / 0 SpD Necturna: 157-186 (55.6 - 65.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 162-192 (53.8 - 63.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 0 SpA Excadrill Corkscrew Crash (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 232-274 (77 - 91%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 248 HP / 224+ SpD Assault Vest Magearna: 82-97 (22.5 - 26.7%) -- 27.9% chance to 4HKO
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 43-51 (13.3 - 15.7%) -- possible 7HKO
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 252 HP / 132+ SpD Arghonaut: 73-87 (17.6 - 21%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 248 HP / 232+ SpD Celesteela: 67-79 (16.8 - 19.8%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 252 HP / 232+ SpD Ferrothorn: 60-72 (17 - 20.4%) -- possible 7HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Excadrill Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Volkraken: 46-54 (13.4 - 15.8%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock
PT
I've gone for a limit-riding PT, so I should explain why I've done that. Beyond the value in minimising chip damage from U-Turn et al, we can with what is not a hugely focussed investment now avoid a 2HKO from Tapu Lele's Specs Psyshock, improving our generic viability as a Steel type. We also avoid the OHKO from +2 Mega Mawile's Sucker Punch, which means playing around that is notably easier, and likewise when it comes to Mega Mawile's Fire Fang.
Our high PT also means that with some investment, if we are using any secondary ability, we are not complete chump change against Earthquake, even if we do have to invest a fair bit more... and I guess not being trolled by Smack Down Landorus is a +ve!
ST
Again, limit-riding, so again, explanations! Combined with our overall spread, this high ST means we can survive an AOP from Tapu Lele (and we can survive any non-Focus Blast follow up, though obviously that comes with a bucket load of risks). We also come out on top when it comes to Tapu Lele's Specs Hidden Power Fire, which in many cases will do less than Psyshock.
Our high bulk also reduces the impact of Magearna's Focus Blast against us, preventing it from 3HKOing through Lefties after Rocks - and practically always even without Lefties. We can also tank anything from Mega Alakazam - switching into Shadow Ball or Psychic barely grazes us, and Focus Blast won't KO on the follow up without a decent amount of prior damage.
Other notable calcs include avoiding being OHKOd by Heatran's Magma Storm after all the passive damage (SpD Heatran doesn't always manage to 3HKO us with Lava Plume, though it'll happen most of the time). Greninja's Z-Hydro Pump also isn't guarenteed to KO after Rocks, and the rare Surf Krilowatt isn't a huge threat.
SS
From Earth Power, we can force out threats like Specially Defensive Heatran and Mega Mawile after Stealth Rock, and we do so with zero investment needed. This means that they can't realistically stay in against us, especially if they have any chip taken at all, which makes effective use of our Ground typing. There are some KOs which we do miss - though I think most everyone's Earth Power isn't sufficient against Magearna - but we can adapt for that, or just accept that taking a chunk out of Magearna is still a good idea at a core level.
I felt it was very important with a Doom Desire concept that we're not locking ourselves into Flash Cannon with a very high SpA wanting instant results. Thankfully, 60 BP difference means that we do get some key calcs - with investment I consider not feasible, we're still not KOing Tapu Lele with Flash Cannon unless we start picking up Life Orb or similar - which there are frankly better mons for. Meanwhile Doom Desire needs zero investment to secure an easy OHKO. I also think it's worth noting that Slowking - a functional example - uses Future Sight (which is weaker) from a mere 100 SpA.
PS
Might as well note that it's a dump stat. 49 Atk is low, but I brought it in line with Togekiss's BST on aesthetic grounds - indeed, Togekiss also has 50 Atk, so very similar. The ATK can go up to 64 without breaking limits, so yeah, it is 100% an aesthetic choice, given that 64 Atk was never going to be usable unless we had Huge Power or something like.
Physical Tankiness: 158.807 Special Tankiness: 166.836 Physical Sweepiness: 88.207 Special Sweepiness: 134.933
BSR: 296.584
Low Kick: 60 BP (if the winning design doesn't fit such a weight then it's changeable)
I wanted to strike a natural balance with my choice of stats, so I decided on high HP, balanced defenses, and the highest SpA my Speed stat would allow. 64 Speed underspeeds both Heatran (duh) and Magearna, thus discouraging CAP 26 from staying in to click Earth Power for an OHKO or 2HKO, respectively. With such a high SpA stat, Doom Desire by itself or into Earth Power can really wreck house on even bulky OU mons:
252+ SpA CAP 26 Doom Desire vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 277-327 (92.3 - 109%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA CAP 26 Doom Desire vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 264-312 (100 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA CAP 26 Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 223-264 (74 - 87.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA CAP 26 Earth Power vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 194-230 (53.2 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA CAP 26 Doom Desire vs. 248 HP / 16 SpD Scizor-Mega: 124-147 (36.1 - 42.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA CAP 26 Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 16 SpD Scizor-Mega: 160-190 (46.6 - 55.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
When crafting my defenses, I thought it extra important for CAP 26 to avoid the 2HKO from Specs Lele, as well as living any move +2 Mega Mawile wants to throw at it (aside from Fire Fang, but that isn't standard on SD sets as of now)
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD CAP 26 in Psychic Terrain: 172-203 (40.9 - 48.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def CAP 26: 307-362 (73 - 86.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 4 Def CAP 26: 296-348 (70.4 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
I apologise as this completely slipped my mind but, as 26 will likely have a weight based matchup vs Protean Greninja due to Low Kick, your submissions should Include Weight and Low Kick BP. Let’s try to keep it somewhat reasonable but it should also be legitimately justifiable at the same time.
If your submission isn’t bothered about this interaction and you wish to leave it up to flavour, by all means.
HP / Defenses are optimized for special defense without affording CAP 26 the opportunity for 101 HP Subs. Chansey is listed as a counter and 101 HP Substitutes could restrict other options later by making CAP 26 too good against Chansey.
Physical Defense is designed [with a 216 HP / 12 Def spread] to take Mega Mawile Knock Off followed by Sucker Punch most of the time without rocks up, and it easily survives +2 Play Rough or Sucker Punch. Proof Calcs:
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 216 HP / 12 Def Excadrill: 201-237 (52.2 - 61.5%) [AVG 56.85]
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 216 HP / 12 Def Excadrill: 145-171 (37.6 - 44.4%) [AVG 41.00] {NET AVG 97.85}
216 HP EVs Produces 385 HP, which is an optimized Leftovers+1 number.
Special Defense is optimized because of CAP 26's necessary defensive interactions with bulky Psychic Pokemon. Steel/Ground with Levitate is absolutely amazing at addressing many of CAP's best offensive threats, and Hidden Power coverage just can't cut it against 95 / 125 Bulk. Even Focus Blast will fail to OHKO, requiring either 2 consecutive hits, boosting, or a Z-Crystal.
Primary Offenses:
SpA: 141 Special Attack allows Doom Desire to flat OHKO several targets that lower stats miss out on. Mega Mawile and Mega Alakazam are two prominent examples of Pokemon this can achieve a guaranteed OHKO on.
Spe: 59 Speed is the maximum speed within the limit for my chosen SpA, and quick enough to easily catch Magearna or Mega Mawile while still being slower than the base 60 cohort without investment.
Attack: Very little benefit comes from attack, as most of the specially defensive Pokemon that would take CAP 26's attacks could be better handled by movepool options rather than mixed attacking.
Overall: The goal of this spread is to maximize Doom Desire's output on a platform that allows for a wide variety of EV selections and items based on the desired speed / bulk target.
The Defensive Calculations are the same across the sample spreads. What is notable is the huge portion of calculations where Fighting type moves are utilized, which Chople Berry would deny a KO or even a 2HKO. Both of the spreads have a more offensive orientation, but even a change in nature to +SpD can avoid OHKOs from Magearna or Tapu Lele All-Out Pummelling. Otherwise, CAP26 is extraordinarily effective against the special attacking portion of the CAP Metagame, and can avoid 2HKOs from vast portions of the unboosted metagame while still having significant EVs allocatable to beat offensive targets.
Doom Desire:
The core of the concept, and where this spread excels. Utilizing the 216/12/228/52 spread for near-maximum output, Doom Desire can cleave through most offensive threats. Because Doom Desire doesn't interact with boosting items, it's very important that once it is set, it looms over the opponent heavily. It goes without saying anything weak to Steel (with the sole exception of AVTar) is OHKOd, it's the other Pokemon that are more interesting.
Onto Calculations:
Note: The 144 SpA spread does 94.4% of the damage of the 228 SpA spread. This will affect marginal KOs, but not overall performance much.
Other Offensive Calculations:
With Doom Desire preventing or at least seriously limiting significant portions of the metagame from switching in, CAP 26's other damaging options need to pressure Pokemon that would take advantage of the setup turn. For these purposes I am going to calculate damage assuming Earth Power, Flash Cannon, Hidden Power Ice, and Hidden Power Electric.
2HKOs:
Aggron-Mega (OU Mega Tank) Earth Power 86.2 - 102%
Gardevoir-Mega (OU Offensive Support) Flash Cannon 84.4 - 99.6%
Tyranitar-Mega (OU Dragon Dance) Earth Power 84.4 - 100.2%
Clefable (OU Magic Guard) Flash Cannon 82.7 - 97.9%
Clefable (OU Calm Mind) Flash Cannon 82.7 - 97.9%
Clefable (OU Unaware) Flash Cannon 82.7 - 97.9%
Magearna (OU Calm Mind + Pain Split) Earth Power 82.6 - 97.5%
Greninja (OU Specially Based Protean) Earth Power 78.2 - 92.6%
Greninja (OU Physically Based Protean) Earth Power 78.2 - 92.6%
Greninja (OU Choice Scarf) Earth Power 78.2 - 92.6%
Greninja (OU Dual Hazards) Earth Power 78.2 - 92.6%
Greninja-Ash (OU Offensive) Earth Power 78.2 - 92.6%
Tyranitar-Mega (OU Stealth Rock) Earth Power 75.1 - 89.2%
Medicham-Mega (OU All-out Attacker) Earth Power 74.7 - 87.7%
Toxapex (OU The Pex) Earth Power 61.8 - 73.6%
Keldeo (OU Waterium Z) Earth Power 56.9 - 67.1%
Keldeo (OU Choice Specs) Earth Power 56.9 - 67.1%
Tornadus-Therian (OU Offensive Z-Move) HP Ice 55.3 - 65.3%
Tornadus-Therian (OU Pivot) HP Ice 45.8 - 54.1% [2HKO w/ SR]
Note: The 144 SpA spread does 94.4% of the damage of the 228 SpA spread. This will affect marginal KOs, but not overall performance much.
Other Considerations:
This spread is flexible enough to consider a wide array of items and tweak itself accordingly. Assault Vest can remove the pressure of special attacks in a more general and durable way than Chople Berry. Iapappa Berry and Leftovers can provide enough healing to last that additional turn as well. Finally, as a very niche set, CAP 26 can run a Timid nature with Choice Scarf and outrun Base 112 (110 mostly) unboosted Pokemon. This lends itself to setting a strong Doom Desire before pivoting out, but also using its Ground STAB and any coverage to supply immediate effective pressure. Because the opponent doesn't immediately know CAP 26's item, a Doom Desire followed by an immediate pivot won't give it away. By contrast, CAP 26 is too slow to utilize Choice Specs effectively in most scenarios, as Doom Desire will not benefit from it, Earth Power is blocked by a large number of flying and Levitating Pokemon, and Flash Cannon and Hidden Power are not sufficiently powerful to start a sweep on their own.
While I have not calculated for Z-Crystals, Both Steelium-Z and Groundinium-Z are viable options if you want CAP 26 to absorb a Knock Off. Corkscrew Crash can OHKO Greninja or CMSplit Magearna after Spikes (w. lower chance on Magearna for SR). Basically, anything not named Chansey that's neutral to Steel wants to stay away from Corkscrew Crash. Calc: 228+ SpA CAP26 Corkscrew Crash (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Greninja: 248-292 (87 - 102.4%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
228+ SpA CAP26 Corkscrew Crash (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 331-390 (91.1 - 107.4%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Conclusion:
This spread maximizes the utility of Doom Desire by allowing CAP 26 to set an incredibly strong baseline attack, and then choose to either battle it out with a large number of special attacking threats or pivot to another Pokemon to set up a checkmate scenario. It has enough physical bulk to defend against and ward off Mega Mawile with good play, and enough flexibility to utilize many different strategies based on item choice.
The balancing act of a viable Doom Desire Pokemon requires that Doom Desire generate a certain level of oppressive force. Once set, the opponent needs to feel like anything frail can't set up, and that their bulkier Pokemon are pressured to recover to survive the power of Doom Desire + another attack. At the same time, the Doom Desire user can't afford to be perceived as a passive setup Pokemon throwing up a glorified time-limited hazard every time it switches in. This spread balances those two needs by providing enough Speed to dissuade powerful but slow offensive threats and enough raw offensive ability to put its checks on guard. Finally, this spread has the necessary durability to be able to set up Doom Desire and take a hit if needed while ensuring it will still be healthy enough to serve in its role as a defensive pivot afterward.
I've played around with a decent amount of spreads and think that this stat spread is fairly flexible in terms of what CAP 26 will want to achieve. The EV spread that I've calced for this spread is as follows: 248 HP / 64 Def / 40 SpA / 88 SpD / 68 Spe with a Modest nature. The HP investment in tandem with the Defense investment allow CAP 26 to survive a Knock Off into Sucker Punch from Mega Mawile after Stealth Rock damage. It also allows CAP 26 to stomach Choice Specs-boosted Psyshock from Tapu Lele better. The Special Defense investment allows CAP 26 to survive an unboosted All-Out Pummeling from Tapu Lele after Stealth Rock damage, while just buffing its Special Defense up in general to take Hidden Power Fire from Choice Specs Tapu Lele and Focus Blast from Mega Alakazam a bit better. While the investment is quite odd, I decided to EV it for Magearna that run 24 Speed EVs, which is the most that Calm Mind + Pain Split variants will run 90% of the time. The rest of the EVs, in tandem with a Modest nature buff CAP 26's attacks up, allowing its Doom Desire to OHKO Z-Move Tornadus-T after Stealth Rock damage, for example.
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 64 Def CAP 26: 193-228 (47.4 - 56%) -- 82.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 64 Def CAP26: 140-165 (34.3 - 40.5%) -- 50% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
56+40.5=96.5, meaning that CAP 26 will be capable of living a boosted Knock Off into a Sucker Punch, even after Stealth Rock damage.
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 64 Def CAP 26 in Psychic Terrain: 143-168 (35.1 - 41.2%) -- 75.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Tapu Lele All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 88 SpD CAP 26: 332-392 (81.5 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 88 SpD CAP 26: 158-188 (38.8 - 46.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 88 SpD CAP 26: 262-310 (64.3 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
40+ SpA CAP 26 Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 92+ SpD Magearna: 210-248 (57.8 - 68.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
40+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. +1 248 HP / 92+ SpD Magearna: 140-168 (38.5 - 46.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
68.3+46.2=114.5
57.8+38.5=96.3
As you can tell from these 2 calcs, CAP 26 has a good shot at beating even the most specially bulky Calm Mind + Pain Split Magearna.
40+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 238-282 (79.3 - 94%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Now, moving onto why I picked these stats in particular.
HP / Defense / Special Defense
With the HP, Defense, and Special Defense I really tried to turn CAP 26 into a flexible check to physical attackers like Mega Mawile, while also allowing CAP 26 to check Psychic-types and Pokemon like Tapu Koko and Tornadus-T.
Attack
While Attack is the stat spread's lowest stat, I still feel like it's important to justify this decision of mine because Earthquake has seriously been considered. The main reason why I haven't invested much into Attack, even though Earthquake is a very solid option, is because of CAP 26's super low Physical Sweepiness limit, which would make CAP 26 far too slow if it had a decent Attack stat.
Special Attack
I treated the Special Attack stat as the dump stat for CAP 26. While I realize that this is somewhat weird, especially because CAP 26 does have to be a strong Special Attacker to actualize Doom Desire, I felt like this was the best approach. This is because there's far too many calcs that require such a high raw Special Attack stat to really make it worth worrying about, atleast in my opinion. I was fairly confident in making this decision because I already had a rough idea of what I wanted the rest of my stat spread to look like.
Speed
I think Speed is an important stat for CAP 26 to adequately check Magearna. I felt like 60 Speed in particular was a nice mid ground to give CAP 26 the ability to outspeed Mega Mawile if it wants to, while also outspeeding Magearna without having to spend too many EVs on it. Most importantly, however, it ensures that CAP 26's Special Attack doesn't drop too low.
78 HP / 45 ATK / 115 DEF / 129 SPA / 139 SPD / 64 SPE
[570 BST]
PT: 159.875
ST: 196.336
PS: 58.3072
SS: 133.333
BSR: 295.97895
Weight: Unspecified
Ok so for my lit spread I wanted to able to comfortably hit defensive benchmarks whilst having a strong offensive presense. I also believe that flexibility is key in a metagame dynamic as CAP, so I made my stats with the ability to be EV'ed to take on a wide variety of threats in the metagame. I crafted a personal EV spread myself, inspired by my pal Jordy, 252 HP / 64 Def / 92 SpA / 72 SpD / 28 Spe, which allows CAP 26 to take a Knock Off into a Sucker Punch from Mega Mawile after rocks (a rather important matchup if I might add), guarantee to survive an AOP from Tapu Lele after Stealth Rock, as well as comfortably survive a Psychic into a Focus Blast from Mega Alakazam should the need arise. The speed allows us to outpace 16 Speed Magearna, which is most likely the highest a Calm Mind + Pain Split Magearna will attempt to run. The rest of the EVs are placed into Special Attack and in combination with a Modest nature, allows us to be able to 2HKO Tapu Lele after rocks, which is important so that we do not to run Flash Cannon to place sufficient pressure on Tapu Lele, preserving Doom Desire's place on a set.
On to specific stats!
HP
A lower HP stat is one of the main outliers of my spread in comparison to my esteemed competition, so it deserves its own explanation. I preferred a lower HP stat to ensure that we reward Pain Split Magearna with as little HP as possible, and also helps us in the long run in that matchup.
Def / SpD
As I went with a lower HP stat, higher Defense and Special Defense stats were required to hit our defensive benchmarks. as i outlined before, being able to take attacks from Mega Mawile and retaliate, with little defense investment. We also take less damage from Tapu Lele's Psyshock, which greatly helps us as this is a Pokemon that we are meant to check and pressure. Seeing Psychic types in general are Pokemon that CAP 26 will be seeking to pressure and beat, maximizing special bulk is key to able to come in on these Pokemon's attacks, as well as cushion us from their common fighting coverage as much as possible.
Atk
While I was initially seeking to give CAP 26 a reasonable attacking stat in order to adequately utilize Earthquake on more specially bulky threats we want to pressure, like Tapu Lele and Magearna, it soon became apparent that with our current PS limits, achieving a suitable attack stat would next to impossible without sacrificing a ton of speed or special power, neither of which I felt was desirable or beneficial for what we want CAP 26 to achieve in the long run. Thus, I turned attack into the fabled and often joked about dump stat of legend.
SpA
Exploiting Doom Desire is the concept of CAP 26, so I truly believed that maximizing its power with a strong Special Attack was important, so I gave CAP 26 as high of a special attacking stat as possible with my speed stat (more on that later). With our power, a Modest set with maximum investment can easily 2HKO Tapu Lele with Earth Power, which i mentioned is important earlier. We can also do comfortably 2HKO CM Magearna, even if it manages to get up a Calm Mind before we switch in, as we out speed it and then kill it after it gets up another boost.
252+ SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. +1 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 192-228 (52.8 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. +2 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 144-170 (39.6 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Speed
When I design stats, i generally "lock" in a stat and then build around it to hit limits. Just like Jumbao before, I decided on locking Speed, as i think that this speed stat is important for CAP 26 to speed creep relevant threats like Magearna and Mega Mawile. The given speed stat allows us to outpace Magearna with little investment, while also being high enough that investing in speed to outpace Mega Mawile if one desires does not result in losing a ridiculous amount of bulk. Forcing Mega Mawile to rely on Sucker Punch to hit us if it wants to revenge kill us is huge if we want to check it. A Pokemon that can simultaneously dissuade Mega Mawile from clicking Play Rough while also forcing it out is a niche held only by Heatran, and I think that given our typing, we shouldn't squander this potential matchup by being slower than Mega Mawile, which would allow Mega Mawile to hit us with a much stronger coverage options if we come in on Play Rough (or even Knock Off), instead of relying on Sucker Punch which we can EV to tank comfortably.
Thats my spread, and I will add additional calculations if and when necessary. Comments are definitely desired and wanted, so do not be afraid to comment!
74 HP / 96 ATK / 110 DEF / 126 SPA / 144 SPD / 50 SPE [600 BST]
PT: 148.272
ST: 197.223
PS: 91.0501
SS: 115.681
BSR: 298.81817
Weight: 25.0 - 49.9 kg making Low Kick 60 BP
As you can see from a cursory glance, I've taken a rather different approach to some other submitters. I've decided to preserve the possibility of a mixed set by reaching the 96 Attack benchmark that allows for Earthquake to be run over Earth Power to deal with certain specific threats like CM Magearna without sacrificing too much power in relation to Earth Power against other threats that we would like to 2HKO like Tapu Lele. Its stats also weigh in towards maximising its bulk while keeping a relatively low HP stat to optimise EVs and even out the matchup with Magearna. Its main priority was to be as specially tanky as possible, without comprimising its physical defenses too much. Too accomodate all these other stat thresholds my build has a low speed stat. I have chosen to make it weigh between 25.0 and 49.9 KG so that Greninja's Low Kick only has a Base Power of 60 which prevents it from hitting a guaranteed 2HKO. With this build I can reasonably foresee a few different EV sets, though the main one that I have used for the purposes of achieving significant bulk thresholds for important matchups identified above such as Lele's AOP and Mawile's Knock Off into Sucker Punch is 252 HP, 100 DEF, 96 SPA and 64 SPD with a Modest nature. As it has such a low speed stat a Quiet nature can also be considered as it doesn't significantly alter what it can outspeed, which can also allow for Earthquake to hit some guaranteed 2HKOs against Tapu Lele, Magearna and a few others. A spread of 252 HP, 252 SPA and 4 SPD can also be run at the risk of some of the aforementioned scenarios to maximise its offensive potential and score some significant KOs on some important metagame Pokemon with Doom Desire after Rocks such as Tornadus-T, Landorus-T, Alakazam and Aurumoth.
HP
I have chosen a lower HP stat to allow for CAP 26 to be able to deal with Magearna's Pain Split more consistently, as well as to maximise the efficiency of its EVs. 74 in particular seems like a good breakpoint to allow for Leftovers to heal for 22, allowing it to comfortably survive a few Seismic Tosses from Chansey.
Attack
I have chosen an Attack stat of 96 to allow for CAP 26 to use Earthquake to specifically 2HKO Magearna's Pain Split, as well as to 2HKO Tapu Lele, most Tyranitar and Toxapex with a Neutral nature. A negative nature can also be used to reach these thresholds with Stealth Rock or a layer of Spikes up.
0- Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 28 Def Magearna: 164-194 (45.1 - 53.4%) -- 85.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 28 Def Magearna: 164-194 (45.1 - 53.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after 1 layer of Spikes
0 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 28 Def Magearna: 182-216 (50.1 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0- Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Alakazam-Mega: 133-157 (52.9 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 132-156 (46.9 - 55.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 168 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 192-228 (50.1 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 168 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar-Mega: 150-176 (39.1 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 224 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 192-228 (48.3 - 57.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Toxapex: 146-174 (48 - 57.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
0- Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 360-424 (93.2 - 109.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 400-472 (103.6 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Defense
A defense stat of 110 combined with the chosen HP allows for CAP 26 to survive a number of important physical attacks in the meta. With the previously mentioned 100 EVS it is able to survive a number of Mega Mawile's attacks such as Knock Off into Sucker Punch, and then Brick Break or Fire Fang from its All-Out-Attacking set. Without investment it is only 3HKOd by Greninja's Low Kick and can still survive Mega Mawile's Brick Break or Fire Fang. I've also included some calcs with some other relevant physical attackers and their common moves. As a lot of the calcs show it is quite capable of taking on some of the main physical attackers, although it is quite often KOd by high base power super effective STAB hits, but otherwise, is able to avoid a few 2HKOs quite a lot of the time.
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 284-336 (80.6 - 95.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 260-308 (73.8 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 121-143 (34.3 - 40.6%) -- 49.3% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 168-198 (47.7 - 56.2%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 242-285 (68.7 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Protean Greninja Force Palm vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 134-158 (38 - 44.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Protean Greninja Force Palm vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 146-174 (41.4 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Crucibelle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 39-46 (11 - 13%) -- possibly the worst move ever
252 Atk Kitsunoh Shadow Strike vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 103-123 (29.2 - 34.9%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Pajantom Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 223-264 (63.3 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 189-223 (53.6 - 63.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 127-150 (36 - 42.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Guts Colossoil Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 141-166 (40 - 47.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Smokomodo Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 306-360 (86.9 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Syclant Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 162-192 (46 - 54.5%) -- 56.3% chance to 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Caribolt Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 286-337 (81.2 - 95.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Kartana Sacred Sword vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix: 234-276 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Kartana Sacred Sword vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Steelix: 214-252 (60.7 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Special Attack
As its primary attacking stat, CAP 26 needs to be able to hit hard on the special side. 126 seemed like a great benchmark to select as it opens up a lot of OHKOs with Doom Desire and Rocks with 252 Sp. Atk EVs and a Modest nature. In addition it allows for Earth Power and certain coverage moves that will remain nameless due to poll jumping to take down relevant targets as 2HKOs or OHKOs with Stealth Rock.
Doom Desire
92+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 193-228 (53.1 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Necturna: 210-247 (78 - 91.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
92+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 238-282 (79.3 - 94%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 270-318 (74.5 - 87.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Colossoil: 322-381 (79.1 - 93.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and burn damage
92+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam-Mega: 210-247 (83.6 - 98.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam-Mega: 237-279 (94.4 - 111.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
92+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 262-310 (82.1 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 297-349 (93.1 - 109.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
92+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Aurumoth: 328-387 (90.8 - 107.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Aurumoth: 370-436 (102.4 - 120.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Steelix Doom Desire vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Jumbao: 396-468 (102 - 120.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO Earth Power
92+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam-Mega: 135-160 (53.7 - 63.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Lele: 141-166 (50.1 - 59%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
92+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 208 SpD Fidgit: 270-318 (68.5 - 80.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 168 HP / 0 SpD Tyranitar-Mega in Sand: 182-216 (47.5 - 56.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 180-212 (59.2 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 282-332 (93.6 - 110.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Magearna: 282-332 (93.6 - 110.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
92+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Volkraken: 282-332 (82.6 - 97.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Volkraken: 318-374 (93.2 - 109.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
92+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Kartana: 337-397 (129.6 - 152.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
92+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kitsunoh: 338-398 (112.2 - 132.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kitsunoh: 380-450 (104.3 - 123.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
92+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 294-348 (111.3 - 131.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 332-392 (125.7 - 148.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Steelix Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Heatran: 484-576 (125.3 - 149.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Special Defense
A special defense stat of 144 allows for CAP 26 to sponge a ton of Special hits from a range of powerful attackers without any investment, and with the more defensive spread of 64 Sp. Def EVs that I've listed above, allows it to take some truly astronomical hits from the premium special attackers in the tier.
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Psychic vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 63-75 (17.7 - 21.1%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 76-90 (21.4 - 25.4%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 228-270 (64.4 - 76.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix in Psychic Terrain: 76-90 (21.4 - 25.4%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Tapu Lele Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 182-216 (51.4 - 61%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Tapu Lele All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 288-340 (81.3 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Aurumoth Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 170-200 (48 - 56.4%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 162-192 (45.7 - 54.2%) -- 5.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 252-296 (71.1 - 83.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery and trapping damage
252 SpA Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 212-252 (59.8 - 71.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Water Shuriken (20 BP) (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 234-276 (66.1 - 77.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Volkraken Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 258-306 (72.8 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Krilowatt Scald vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 174-211 (49.1 - 59.6%) -- 73.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 150-178 (42.3 - 50.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 224+ SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 159-187 (44.9 - 52.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Celesteela Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Steelix: 96-114 (27.1 - 32.2%) -- 47.9% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Speed
Speed was the main stat that had to drop to reach the benchmarks I've mentioned above. I thought going lower than 50 was quite risky however, as it can still potentially be EV'd to outspeed Mawile and Magearna, although it will need a lot of investment so this is unlikely. Being at 50 with a neutral or negative nature with 0 investment still allows it to outspeed Toxapex and tie with Tangrowth and other slow Pokemon. While low speed may seem risky, I think my spread's bulk makes outspeeding certain targets less of a priority, particularly Magearna and Mawile, since they can either be cleanly 2HKOd or OHKOd and live through many of their hits.
My spread, while similar to others, uses Speed as the primary starting point, although bulk plays a part too. Specifically, Base 69 Speed obviously outpaces Magearna with zero investment, but more importantly for this spread outpaces Mega Mawile that run 204 Speed EVs if 26 runs a mere 56 EVs and neutral nature. While Mega Mawile can simply adapt to 26 and run more speed (204 Speed isn't even the OU spread), it eventually will cut into its bulk, which will allow 26's teammates to have an easier time stopping it. Even if for whatever reason, Mega Mawile begins running maximum Speed (252+), we only need 180 EVs and a neutral nature to outspeed it. But I digress.
Physical Bulk
The other major aspect of the spread is the bulk. The aim of my physical bulk is to be able to shut down Mega Mawile, including at +2, so long as you do not come in on a boosted Knock Off. It also survives an unboosted Knock Off into Sucker Punch (Don’t have the calc because I’m adding this part on mobile). As an added bonus, this spread easily avoids the 2HKO from Specs Lele Psyshock. The best part? All of this is purely from HP investment alone! In fact, you can even avoid the OHKO from +2 Knock Off with 180 EVs in Defense, although that likely is not needed. Also, fun fact: the reason the weight is unspecified is that even if it obviously hurts like there's no tomorrow, we actually live a 120 Power Low Kick from Physical Protean Greninja. What sets this apart from other spreads is that the closest spread to mine require over double the EV investment to outspeed Mega Mawile (56 EVs versus 128 EVs), which makes the matchup especially sweet. This gives our spread more flexibility in teambuilding, which I will elaborate in a moment.
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 287-338 (70.3 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 298-351 (73 - 86%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 413-486 (101.2 - 119.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO [Worth noting if Steelium Z becomes a major set this calc is irrelevant]
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 180 Def Excadrill: 345-406 (84.5 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Psychic Surge Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Excadrill in Psychic Terrain: 153-180 (37.5 - 44.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Protean Greninja Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 326-386 (79.9 - 94.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Special Bulk
This spread, with just a small amount of EVs, not only avoids the OHKO from Focus Blast, but avoids the OHKO from All-Out Pummeling from Lele. Even if rocks are up, there's only a small chance you get OHKOed. It also even avoids the Focus Blast OHKO from Mega Alakazam, and I would argue this spread handles it well for a weakness to a mon with 175 Special Attack. It also handles other weaknesses decently, such as Volkraken's Fire Blast and Hydro Pump (so long as you don't switch into it), Special Protean Greninja's Hydro Pump, and Specs Lele's HP Fire. Additionally, it eats a Twinkle Tackle from even a +2 Calm Mind Magearna for lunch.
252 SpA Psychic Surge Tapu Lele Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 218-258 (53.4 - 63.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Psychic Surge Tapu Lele All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 344-406 (84.3 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Psychic Surge Tapu Lele All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 344-406 (84.3 - 99.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Trace Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 272-322 (66.6 - 78.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Volkraken Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 308-366 (75.4 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Volkraken Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 308-366 (75.4 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Protean Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 254-302 (62.2 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Psychic Surge Tapu Lele Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 164-194 (40.1 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 224+ SpA Soul-Heart Magearna Twinkle Tackle (195 BP) vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 285-336 (69.8 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Offenses
I decided that due to outspeeding Magearna and Mega Mawile with ease, that it would serve me best to make Attack a dump stat. If we come in as Magearna gets off its first Calm Mind and we already outspeed it, we can fire of an Earth Power or two, even if they decide to stack Calm Mind boosts and Pain Split us out.
128+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. +1 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 168-198 (46.2 - 54.5%) -- 49.2% chance to 2HKO
128+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. +2 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 126-150 (34.7 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
For example, let's say we do at least 174 HP worth of damage with an Earth Power after we come in. After all, this happens 81% of the time, and Magearna uses Calm Mind afterwards.
128+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. +1 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna [174 HP]: 168-198 (46.2 - 54.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
Then let's say we do at least 132 HP worth of damage. This is also extremely likely.
128+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. +2 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna [132 HP]: 126-150 (34.7 - 41.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
Let's assume the foe knows what they're doing and Pain Splits us as the same time. As the first Earth Powers leave Magearna at 42 HP at best (unless you are extremely unlucky), this in the best situation for the foe leaves both 26 and Magearna at 225 HP. If the Magearna has yet to use Twinkle Tackle, we basically are screwed. However, we could simply either pivot into something that you can either sack or that can eat the Z move, or simply go down swinging by doing more chip to Magearna with Earth Power or invest in the future by setting a Doom Desire before you're blown away. Even if the Magearna uses Calm Mind again during the two turns you need to wait, not only will it still do a decent amount for this scenario...
128+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Doom Desire vs. +3 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 76-91 (20.9 - 25%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
But the teammate you bring in likely will be able to KO Magearna, likely even before Doom Desire hits, meaning that's still some free momentum for you to play around with.
If the foe has already used up their Z move, you simply click Earth Power until they fall over or get out of there.
128+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. +2 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna [225 HP]: 126-150 (34.7 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 224+ SpA Soul-Heart Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 190-224 (46.5 - 54.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
When Fleur Cannon hits, you actually still live the hit, and if you hold an Iapapa Berry (I will get to items in a bit), you effectively act like the attack never hit you in the first place. In either scenario, Magearna dies the next turn.
Flexibility
Now, you may have noticed that this entire post has been using a weird EV distribution. If you couldn't tell, I am specifically using 252 HP / 128 SpA / 72 SpD / 56 Spe and a Modest nature. I am using this spread because it accomplishes everything you have seen so far in a single spread. However, due to the nature of my stats, the EVs are rather flexible. Do you not care about outspeeding Mega Mawile? Remove the investment in Speed to either avoid an OHKO from AoP, even with Rocks up...
252 SpA Psychic Surge Tapu Lele All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Excadrill: 344-406 (84.3 - 99.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Psychic Surge Tapu Lele All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 158 SpD Excadrill: 320-378 (78.4 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Or add it to your Special Attack for more firepower.
184+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Volkraken: 294-348 (86.2 - 102%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
You even could do a bit of both, as you actually only need 108 EVs to avoid the AoP OHKO even with rocks up.
Do you hate Mega Mawile like there's no tomorrow? Change to 180 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpA / 72 Spe with Bold nature!
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 180 HP / 128+ Def Excadrill: 329-388 (84.3 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
128 SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. 52 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 266-314 (104.7 - 123.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Do you not care about MMaw OR Lele? Then run a good ol' 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD EV set!
252+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Volkraken: 308-366 (90.3 - 107.3%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. +1 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 182-216 (50.1 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Levitate Excadrill Earth Power vs. +2 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 134-162 (36.9 - 44.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
As for items, I personally would say this spread loves the pinch berries the most. It just absolutely loves the major recovery, and it most certainly has the bulk to trigger the berry, as you have seen above. Sitrus Berry or Leftovers probably aren't terrible choices, however.
Conclusion
Overall, my stat submission is fast enough to outspeed foes in key matchups, while still remaining powerful and bulky. Additionally, it is extremely flexible for EV optimization, adapting itself to a team's needs. I hope this spread gets slated and potentially wins, as I have spent probably about two and a half hours typing this post. Thanks for reading!
Alright sorry for the delay on this I've had some pretty major IRL commitments I've had to sort out but I'm gonna offer some thoughts and drop a 48-hour warning so make sure your spreads are tagged as FINAL SUBMISSION and not WIP otherwise they won't be counted when I'm looking at slate options.As it is right now most of the spreads vary greatly in the speed department, which has been one of the biggest discussion points of this CAP so far.
It's good to see a lot of submissions have an accompanying EV spread which makes calcing much more realistic and easier for me when checking things. I would like to read more explanations and how you decided on these as it backs up your stat choices if we're able to hit important benchmarks with X investment.
Just gonna go over a few of my thoughts on some of the WIP spreads here:
Roland le preaux This is an extremely bulky take on 26 and it compensates for it with one of the lowest speed stats of any of the submissions whilst still maintaining a strong special attack. One calc that seems pretty good that you haven't included however is that Doom Desire will actually OHKO Timi Aurumoth Variants with 252+ like your calcs suggest which is pretty huge imo. Special Tankiness is shaping up to be one of the key selling points of 26, so I would like to see more calcs and matchup explanations around common special attackers such as the Grens, Heatran, Krilowatt etc. This is one of a few similar spreads that emphasises defensive utility over offences so I would like to see what sets it apart from the rest!
Deck Knight This is by far the strongest submission in terms of offensive power with seemingly little downsides as the attack is used as a dump here whilst keeping similar defenses to other submissions. I'll harper back to a question we had in limits that could be my only concern with this spread: is there a point of power where the immediate damage is more valued than the Doom Desire trap setup and does this level of offence hit said point? I'm curious to read your thoughts on this.
lyd This spread is very different from any other submission, and not just because it visually impaired me for 3 days. Being much weaker and faster than anything else in this thread, I'd like to read a little more explanation on why you think this is the best path for 26 to take, considering our discussion in stat limits. The uniqueness of the spread has me interested, to say the least.
pokehimon The only spread to hit the benchmark of Psweep that 2hkos Split mage, which was a concern brought up in limits discussion and was the reason for the psweep value. This spread seems to reach this benchmark whilst still hitting very similar defensive stats to other spreads allowing it to have very little drawback for this added benefit. With the low HP stat aswell this set does seem marginally catered to the magearna matchup, which whilst it is one of our only pressures, might be a little too specialised. I would like to read why you think this added niche outweighs the benefits of say, a higher Ssweep
All of these WIPs are looking really good so far people, and I look forward to reading your final submissions!
Deck Knight This is by far the strongest submission in terms of offensive power with seemingly little downsides as the attack is used as a dump here whilst keeping similar defenses to other submissions. I'll harper back to a question we had in limits that could be my only concern with this spread: is there a point of power where the immediate damage is more valued than the Doom Desire trap setup and does this level of offence hit said point? I'm curious to read your thoughts on this.
Originally I had attack at a much higher (but still not usable) Attack level, however in discussions on Discord I realized that the lower Defense I had was not sufficient to blunt the expected matchup against Mega Mawile. Considering that and that so many of the other submissions had a large amount of optimization, I made the choice to rebalance more towards that trend. Mega Mawile can still KO the given spread if Stealth Rock is up with its Knock Off followed by Sucker Punch combination, and +2 Knock Off also OHKOs.
That said, I feel like the trap setup element requires a lot of psychological pressure, and part of that pressure is the feeling that certain options are locked out of consideration. At various times i the process Doom Desire has been compared to a hazard and to a follow-up attack, and in the context of a hazard, a telegraphed one-time hazard needs to feel oppressive.
Gen 7 Pokemon often feels like a game of inches, where not securing that KO can lead to a sweep as your opponents wincon just barely survives your best answer and goes on to plow through. With a concept like Doom Desire that requires both durability and a looming threat, the tipping point would really be when Flash Cannon and the various Hidden Powers CAP 26 is likely to employ become too overwheming in their own right. I do not think my spread particularly crosses that line, as Earth Power and the Hidden Powers have very strong inherent limitations [Bajillion ground immunities, Flash Cannon's limited BP and poor offensive typing, Hidden Power only being frightening to 4x weaknesses] and spreads in the same ~130 SpA range perform similarly in terms of 2HKOs or OHKOs with items like Life Orb or Choice Specs.
That's why I broke out Doom Desire calcs as their own section. Doom Desire feels to me a lot in function like Latios Draco Meteors over the generations. You know that whatever you switch in to tank that hit it isn't going to be easily healed off (Chansey aside), but unlike Draco Meteor, Doom Desire has a delay (momentum sink) and can't benefit from hold items, the tradeoff being nothing is immune to it. With that in mind, I felt like the necessary power level was at a standalone threat level (w/o hazard or other chip support). Requiring SR up or chip added to Doom Desire requires too much momentum sunk into the turn it hits. Letting Doom Desire stand on its own makes it much more likely to be used. Doom Desire is basically artillery support for the Pokemon you pivot to after 26's check/counter comes in to address it.
pokehimon The only spread to hit the benchmark of Psweep that 2hkos Split mage, which was a concern brought up in limits discussion and was the reason for the psweep value. This spread seems to reach this benchmark whilst still hitting very similar defensive stats to other spreads allowing it to have very little drawback for this added benefit. With the low HP stat aswell this set does seem marginally catered to the magearna matchup, which whilst it is one of our only pressures, might be a little too specialised. I would like to read why you think this added niche outweighs the benefits of say, a higher Ssweep
Thanks for your question Jho, it's an interesting one, and one that I actually have been considering myself for some time after seeing the other submissions.
To address your first point that a higher Attack stat is a complete positive when compared to other sets, I do have to bring up that Speed has had to be significantly reduced in my set to compensate. While I personally think the combination of bulk and mixed attacking potential is more than worth a sacrifice in speed, it is not to say that a low speed can't have a damaging effect on certain matchups. With my current speed tier, chances are that we will always be slower than Magearna and Mawile unless running ridiculous EV threads that detract from our bulk, and as such it is possible that some of the decisions I've made in regards to its attacking stats might not have as large of an impact as is foreseen, due to CAP 26 taking more chip damage, and potentially allowing the Magearna to play carefully around the 2HKO threshold with Pain Split. This is not to say we should be put off by being outsped, but rather to realise that there is some cost to the decisions I've made. As I said I personally believe this cost is worth it, as greater flexibility in terms of sets is always welcome when creating a Pokemon, and Earthquake in particular is a really interesting and effective move that will be a viable option with my spread in terms of its damage output.
While the attack stat of 96 was specifically chosen for its ability to hit Magearna, in running the calculations, I found that apart from some very specific Pokemon like Kartana who take so much more from Earth Power, Earthquake coming from a Quiet nature is ultimately just as effective as Earth Power is in terms of specific threats, there are no major differences when it comes to terms of 2HKOs and OHKOs on some of the key targets that we want to be hitting on switch-ins such as Heatran, Lele and Mega Alakazam when using the 96 Spa EVs that I mentioned in my theoretical spread. However, apart from Magearna, Earthquake does significantly more damage to Tyranitar. What I mean to highlight with this mention is that although it is somewhat specialised towards Magearna, the base attack of 96 actually offers a lot of flexibility in building CAP 26 when it comes to EVs. With full 252 Spa Modest investment Earth Power is naturally going to be the better choice, but for the more bulky spread that I highlighted Earthquake is similarly functional which I think has some merit. Ultimately what I think this should show is that the ability to go mixed isn't as niche as it may first appear, and is arguably more healthy for the Pokemon than pumping Ssweepiness even further as Earthquake supports Doom Desire just as much as Earth Power does at these thresholds. While pumping up Ssweepiness obviously benefits Doom Desire, as I mentioned in my defense of 126 Spa we already have strong KO potential, which means the equivalent stat boost would need to be in Speed. Apart from pumping BSR up a lot, I think there are some downsides to having a strong speed stat in terms of hitting the right power level, as we run the risk of running more Speed EVs which takes away from our role significantly by reducing our bulk, and allows us to beat certain targets so successfully we run the risk of forgoing Doom Desire for other utility options.
This has been an excellent stats stage, thank you everyone for contributing! All of the submissions this time around were excellent so it was really hard to narrow it down to a few to be slated. With that being said, here is your Base Stat Slate for CAP26!
Roland le preaux : 72 / 62 / 120 / 128 / 148 / 40 (570 BST)
Weight: Unspecified
Dogfish44 : 127 HP / 49 Atk / 82 Def / 126 SpA / 102 SpD / 59 Spe (545 BST)
Weight: Sub-200KG, making Low Kick 100BP or lower
There is your slate! Here are a few of my own thoughts on what makes these spreads unique:
Roland: An interesting spread that hits similar offensive and defensive benchmarks to a lot of the other spreads. The main selling point of this spread, however, is the much lower speed, giving it an interesting possible niche of under speeding TR threats. Whilst speed has been a pretty important discussion point this CAP, we never touched on extremely low speeds but it seems like it could provide something interesting to 26's repertoire.
Dog: A really well optimised spread that you have explained thoroughly. It hits all the defensive and offensive benchmarks we deemed vital for 26 during limits without being potentially overbearing in any stat. A really well-rounded submission.
Jordy: Another very well-rounded spread which manages to hit almost every benchmark. This spreads boasts the highest spa of all the slated submissions, whilst still maintaining similar levels of speed and bulk to the rest.
Luke: This spread goes about hitting the defensive breakpoints slightly differently. By having a low HP and high defenses, this spread aims to further 26's positive matchup into pain split magearna. This submissions speed stat also makes it one of the faster subs, making it a very interesting spread.
Pokehimon: The only spread to opt into the mixed attacker possibility by reaching 96 attack. It manages to hit this benchmark without sacrificing bulk or special attack making it very well rounded.
Revi: Whilst the weakest spread in terms of raw firepower, this spread is also the fastest. This spread hits most of the important defensive benchmarks whilst really pushing the boundaries with its speed, making it a very unique spread to look at in later stages.
