CAP 37 So Far
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After a great discussion led by our Ability Leader, viol and bass, we will be deciding on CAP 37's ability through two series of polls. If you haven't taken the chance to read through the thread, please refer to the Ability Discussion thread here to make an informed decision when submitting your ballot! Lastly, here are the descriptions for each ability slated, pulled from viol and bass's final post here.
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Opportunist
This is one of the few abilities suggested that tackles opposing setup, preventing mons such as Bulk Up Revenankh and Great Tusk from being able to boost up on us while taking little in return. It may also save us a moveslot, since the “universally assumed move” Taunt becomes less necessary. I was initially skeptical about this ability but it’s really neat here.
Analytic
This ability is more focused on Beak Blast’s general damage output, while also threatening opponents on switch-out. Depending on speed tiers it will boost Beak Blast in situations where our Dark STAB isn’t boosted, which can make the move more clickable. Like the above, it's focused on extracting value every time we enter the field.
Filter / Solid Rock
This ability helps us take super-effective moves like Ice Spinner or Stone Edge from physical mons we'd like to check more easily, but we also have a number of weaknesses to primarily special types, and discouraging special mons from dealing with us freely can be pro-concept. This is also a mon that will have to tank hits to get Beak Blast off, and this ability directly helps you do that.
Thermal Exchange
This ability's use is very focused, mainly existing to prevent burn from Kit, Pult, etc. It allows us to become a much safer switch-in to these threats which could be valuable as a Dark type trying to fill a teamslot. It can also boost attack on Fire hits– it's likely pretty difficult to activate the attack boost successfully, but when it happens the payoff is significant with our offensive typing. Because of the difficulty of safe activation, I don't feel that the attack boost will be limiting to future stages.
Natural Cure
Natural Cure allows us to shrug off status by switching out. It's not a perfect status solve, since we don't necessarily love switching around frequently (this is a mon that can only exert pressure when it's already on the field unlike something like Zapdos). However that's probably a good thing. This is a particularly strong ability into mons that have to fish for status like Slowking-Galar or Malignant Chain Pecharunt. It gives us more play into status mons without completely neutering status as an option against us.
Prankster
Bit of a wild card. This ability does not help with switching in, but in combination with the universally assumed move Taunt, it can prevent both status and setup, which we've identified as issues here. It also provokes opponents to attack us, which can create pro-concept interactions. This obviously opens up a lot of other status-category move options that can interact with our build in interesting ways. Although this is a late entry that hasn't received as much discussion, I felt that it offered enough unique traits that it merited inclusion.
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This is a ranked pairs poll. The order of your preferences DOES matter. You may rank as many or as few options as you like, but we encourage you to rank as many options as possible. A typical ballot might look like the following:
All ballots will be revealed at the end of the poll and votes will be counted via automated scripts. If you do not compose a legal ballot, your post will be subject to moderation.
The voting options are:
Opportunist
Analytic
Filter / Solid Rock
Thermal Exchange
Natural Cure
Prankster
This poll will be open for 24 hours.
-----
After a great discussion led by our Ability Leader, viol and bass, we will be deciding on CAP 37's ability through two series of polls. If you haven't taken the chance to read through the thread, please refer to the Ability Discussion thread here to make an informed decision when submitting your ballot! Lastly, here are the descriptions for each ability slated, pulled from viol and bass's final post here.
-----
Opportunist
This is one of the few abilities suggested that tackles opposing setup, preventing mons such as Bulk Up Revenankh and Great Tusk from being able to boost up on us while taking little in return. It may also save us a moveslot, since the “universally assumed move” Taunt becomes less necessary. I was initially skeptical about this ability but it’s really neat here.
Analytic
This ability is more focused on Beak Blast’s general damage output, while also threatening opponents on switch-out. Depending on speed tiers it will boost Beak Blast in situations where our Dark STAB isn’t boosted, which can make the move more clickable. Like the above, it's focused on extracting value every time we enter the field.
Filter / Solid Rock
This ability helps us take super-effective moves like Ice Spinner or Stone Edge from physical mons we'd like to check more easily, but we also have a number of weaknesses to primarily special types, and discouraging special mons from dealing with us freely can be pro-concept. This is also a mon that will have to tank hits to get Beak Blast off, and this ability directly helps you do that.
Thermal Exchange
This ability's use is very focused, mainly existing to prevent burn from Kit, Pult, etc. It allows us to become a much safer switch-in to these threats which could be valuable as a Dark type trying to fill a teamslot. It can also boost attack on Fire hits– it's likely pretty difficult to activate the attack boost successfully, but when it happens the payoff is significant with our offensive typing. Because of the difficulty of safe activation, I don't feel that the attack boost will be limiting to future stages.
Natural Cure
Natural Cure allows us to shrug off status by switching out. It's not a perfect status solve, since we don't necessarily love switching around frequently (this is a mon that can only exert pressure when it's already on the field unlike something like Zapdos). However that's probably a good thing. This is a particularly strong ability into mons that have to fish for status like Slowking-Galar or Malignant Chain Pecharunt. It gives us more play into status mons without completely neutering status as an option against us.
Prankster
Bit of a wild card. This ability does not help with switching in, but in combination with the universally assumed move Taunt, it can prevent both status and setup, which we've identified as issues here. It also provokes opponents to attack us, which can create pro-concept interactions. This obviously opens up a lot of other status-category move options that can interact with our build in interesting ways. Although this is a late entry that hasn't received as much discussion, I felt that it offered enough unique traits that it merited inclusion.
-----
This is a ranked pairs poll. The order of your preferences DOES matter. You may rank as many or as few options as you like, but we encourage you to rank as many options as possible. A typical ballot might look like the following:
All ballots will be revealed at the end of the poll and votes will be counted via automated scripts. If you do not compose a legal ballot, your post will be subject to moderation.
- Do NOT bold anything other than the options you are voting for.
- Do NOT put any formatting other than bold in your post.
- Only one option per line.
- Spellings must match EXACTLY the options listed below.
- Capitalization and spaces are ignored by the counting scripts, but you probably should not depend on it.
The voting options are:
Opportunist
Analytic
Filter / Solid Rock
Thermal Exchange
Natural Cure
Prankster
This poll will be open for 24 hours.
