CAP 36 - Part 16 - Post Play Lookback

[quziel]

Giving Ramnarok another ability is anti concept since it's based on Meloetta and that only has one ability

Neither the framework nor the concept mention this. We proceeded with that ruling based on what I recall to be discord discussion, but I don't think its required by either the framework nor the concept.

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Taunt makes a lot of sense as a stallbreakery set of Inferno/Blizzard/Polar/Taunt does make sense and does leverage our bulk, typing, and STABs well to pressure some existing low-tempo switchins (Mollux, Shox) at the cost of pressuring opposing waters nearly as well.

At the same time, its unclear how much it moves the needle on promoting flexibility as water types are well, good, common, and not something you want to be mid into. It is conceivable that you could run Inferno/Freeze-Dry/Polar/Taunt instead, however being walled that hard by Garg is not exactly wise. Still, its a good experiment to run, as Taunt does scale well with speed, making them likely best alongside Polar Flare, and the chip inflicted by Inferno likely does at least help you vs Waters, especially with Snael becoming more dominant as of late.

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Grass Knot is in a similar place, being a tech option over Thunder that trades basically any and all damage into Fires (and Kril/Rotom-W) for better damage into Garg. You're never running both Thunder and Grass Knot, so the chance of a 4 Attacks no-Polar Flare build is relatively low, and while it chips away at our counters, it still keeps a number of extremely hard ones, notably Rotom-Wash, Mollux, Krilowatt, and Shox. I should note that the primary reason to run GK is that Tera-Grass Grass Knot comes very close to an OHKO on Garg, and you are a mon that is quite happy to run Tera Grass anyways.

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Package : Increase Flexibility, keep raw power constant

+Grass Knot
+Sound Based Polar Flare

Being hard-walled by Garg is simply not something I want for this mon, and this package lets you tech past it. Grass Knot combined with Tera-Grass lets you nearly, but not quite OHKO Garg with a Timid nature. Garg's a mon that naturally swaps into Inferno all the time, is very common, and is incredibly punishing to give free turns to, so making it more of a check than a counter is something that I think benefits Ram in a lot of ways. Sound-based Polar Flare is definitely a power increase, and allows Ram to focus on the late game if the matchup calls for it, though there's still a lot of incentive to spam Inferno early to e.g. get a burn vs Shox so you can break it late-game with a +1 Blizzard.

 

[Pipotchi]

I agree with the thought that there isnt really a clean path for buffing through abilities, moves etc that doesnt feel like a complete rework, so I wanted to instead pose some buffs that dont massively push the needle but help with an aspect that sits wrong with me:
The defensive risk of Polar Flaring is very large considering the small offensive payoff.

When you Polar Flare, you gain an offensive boost of around 20%. This is the equivalent of something like Charcoal, or a weaker Life Orb. But unfortunately your special defense drops more than 50%- its over twice as defensively crippling than a Shell Smash, for a boost that increases your offensive strength by less than half a Calm Mind. I don't think it would be dramatic to say that Polar Flare is MAYBE on the level of moves like Trailblaze, which are already niche and rare on the mons using them. I also think that Trailblaze and Flame Charge usually work best when used alongside a hefty Attack boosting move, and its just not comparable to a standalone Agility strategy. I strongly believe the mon deserves more bang for its buck, but without turning it into another Throat Sprayer which is more of a one-and-done sweeper that's asking it to be even more cautious with its HP and switching in.

Route 1) Radiant -30 Atk, +30 SpA
164 SpA may sound insane, but it works out to about a 37% offensive boost from base form (134 SpA translates to around 20% offensive boost). Its still not reaching the equivalent of a special dragon dance/throat spray boost (this would require around 80SpA increase) but it feels decidedly more meaningful. Polar Flare + Inferno in boosted form does slightly more damage than 2 Infernos in base form, so the loss in tempo is slightly compensated for. Checks will struggle earlier, such as Mollux going from Thunder doing 27% max to 31% max, and Blizzard will no longer sometimes fail to 2HKO a Ting Lu.

Route 2) Radiant -33 Atk, + 33 SpDef
If the offenses stays the same, does this mon really need to be brutalized so heavily defensively? This is an attempt to restore some of its bulk, making the move safer to click in front of mons you are already faster than, but aren't KOing- ie. Gholdengo, Equilibra, Snaelstrom, and various Paralyzed others. Its special bulk drop is more like 25% here instead of 50%+. You can click Polar Flare in more situations with this buff.



I think we should have been less scared of Polar Flare creating a monster because it requires a turn of setup, if you find the equivalent stats of something like Roaring Moon after a Dragon Dance (230+ Atk, 203 Speed) or even something as weak as Dragon Dance Necrozma (185 Atk, 143 Speed) I think it puts it more into perspective even if it also does some damage. And unlike dragon dancers, it can never reach the upper tiers of speed that prevent it from being rked by simple speedsters like booster energy or increase its damage any further to break through passive walls because it is a one-time boost.

Open to hearing tweaks on both of these routes but hopefully I explained my reasoning for the general route well enough. Even though these numbers are high, I do think they will not massively change this Pokemon. I also think that this stat boost is smaller and less warping than Throat Spray strategies, because I want to preserve the idea of AV or leftovers sets and encourage early-game involvement.