CAP 32 - Part 2 - Typing Discussion

[D34D_M4n14]

First time posting something for a cap process, so let's see how this goes.
I Would like to suggest two poison types that I feel would have very good niches in our current metagame: POISON with either FIRE or FAIRY. Both of these dual types offer key resistances to the common fighting stab, U-turns, and fairy stabs that proliferate the OU tier, along with a fantastic immunity to toxic. They also both have the benefit of resisting both stabs of iron valiant and jumbao.

Poison Fairy is definitely one of the more unique typings in the game which originated on galarian weezing. The typing has a very defensive profile. It gives two 4x resistances to Bug and Fighting, while giving normal resistances to Dark, Fairy, and Grass, along with an amazing immunity to dragon. On the offensive side, Poison Fairy is not the best. While it does hit for super effective damage against Dragon, Dark, Fairy, and Fighting (Grass too but it's grass) which are all very relevant types. Unfortunately, both stabs would completely shut down by Steel and Poison. It does hit for neutral on every other monotype though.

This dual typing also has the advantages of being immune to Toxic, absorbing Toxic Spikes, and taking neutral damage from Stealth Rock. The combination also does amazingly into meowscarada.

Poison Fire is a less unique but far more efficient typing. Iron Moth, which shares it's typing, is pretty good in both OU and CAP as a wallbreaker, and mollux has seen great use in the past. It shares one of Poison/Fairy's dual resistances in Bug, and gains Grass and Fairy as 4x resistances along side five other great resistances (Fighting, Fire, Ice, Poison, Steel). Offensively, Poison/ Fire is much better than Poison/ Fairy, as both types are only resisted by Rock. It also hits Steel for weakness, which is great in a metagame full of our favorite scales of justice.

It does have it's own shortcomings however. Being weak to rock means that Boots are weighed a lot more as your item, and melting at any ground move thrown your way is not ideal. It makes up for these by being immune to both Toxic AND Wisp, along with still absorbing Toxic Spikes.

I'll end off on mentioning that Fire/Fairy and Poison/Dragon are my two favorite nominees. Poison Dragon is just fun (poison types ) and Fire Fairy is just fantastic.

 

[dex]

Hello all, I'd like to present you with the typing slate for CAP 32!

Fire/Flying: This type provides a nice mixture of offensive and defensive qualities, keeping things open for the future of the process while providing CAP 32 with a good bit of initial strength. Strong STAB, defined setbacks, and great matchups define this option.

Water/Flying: Water/Flying is similar to Fire/Flying in many aspects but is a bit more defensive leaning. An excellent defensive type with the ability to go on the offensive, Water/Flying has a lot of promise to it.

Fire/Fairy: Fire/Fairy has been discussed quite a bit in this thread, and for good reason. An excellent defensive spread with excellent offensive coverage makes this typing an attractive option.

Fire/Psychic: The third and final Fire-typing on the slate takes advantage of Fire and Psychic's amazing offensive spread to pose as a true threat. It keeps most of Fire's defensive value intact while adding Psychic's surprisingly powerful matchups into the mix.

Ghost/Electric: An offensive typing through and through, Ghost/Electric has just enough defensive merit to eek by while pressuring the opposition with a tough STAB combination.

Electric/Flying: Zapdos is the poster child for variability, demonstrating this typing's offensive and defensive prowess throughout the generations. Electric/Flying, similarly to Fire/Flying, leaves us with a good deal of design space to figure out while providing a solid starting point.

Ice/Ground: Of the Ice- and Ground-types submitted, Ice/Ground made the most sense of the lot. An incredible STAB combination and a decent defensive profile for an Ice-type makes Ice/Ground a boom or bust option.

Grass/Steel: Dex cuts took away Ferrothorn. So we bring it back. Grass/Steel is a truly amazing defensive typing that is backed by some surprisingly powerful STAB moves. Its offensive profile is a bit lacking, but defensively, this type is one of the best.

I thought I'd also do some explaining on why some types didn't make the cut:

Best of the Rest:
Fire/Dark was enticing for its unique defensive and offensive traits, but I felt that the slate had enough Fire-types and that this was just barely edged out by Fire/Psychic. Electric/Steel caught my eye initially for its surprisingly decent defensive profile, but Grass/Steel does the job better in my eyes. Water/Psychic was another one that I found to be interesting offensively, but I felt that Water/Flying and Fire/Psychic covered its design space too well to include it. Finally, Ground/Flying was another option I considered for a while, but I felt that Ice/Ground was the more interesting Ground-type and that the slate had enough Flying-types on it already.

Why didn't this get consideration?
Many Normal typings were submitted, and while the attraction of Normal is obvious (Ghost immunity), in reality, Normal-types have poor matchups into the tier's Ghost-type juggernauts. Add onto the fact that Normal just does not provide a helpful set of resistances, and it becomes easier to see a Normal-type struggling to succeed with the concept. A whole host of Ghost-types were submitted as well, and I felt that, while many were offensively powerful, none provided enough of a defensive backbone to warrant selection over Ghost/Electric. A number of Dragon-types were submitted as well, most notable among them being Dragon/Fairy. For the first time in a while, Dragon does not possess that much defensive merit into the current metagame. Add onto the fact that the tier plays host to some incredibly powerful Dragon-types like Dragonite, Dragapult, and Roaring Moon, and it became difficult to justify slating a Dragon-type for this concept.

Final Bird Fact of the Day: It is well known that birds are, in many respects, the closest relative to dinosaurs left on Earth. This is exemplified best in Hoatzins, which have claws on their wings when they are born. Terrifying little beasts.

 

[spoo]

Myself + the rest of the TLT have been discussing the slate with dex for the past couple days and I think it’s fantastic. No changes from me, so let’s get straight into the typing poll!