CAP 8 is officially up and going!
This is a BOLD VOTE poll. Vote for one concept only. Please bold the name of the concept and the user who submitted it. Not all submissions will make it through because they were either redundant with another concept or a previous CAP. Anyone and everyone can participate!
Before voting, please make sure to read through each concept. They will be posted in order of submission. This will be open for about two days or so, so hurry up and make your votes people!
This is a BOLD VOTE poll. Vote for one concept only. Please bold the name of the concept and the user who submitted it. Not all submissions will make it through because they were either redundant with another concept or a previous CAP. Anyone and everyone can participate!
Before voting, please make sure to read through each concept. They will be posted in order of submission. This will be open for about two days or so, so hurry up and make your votes people!
Concept: Para-busing tank.
General Description: Paralysis is one of the most crippling statuses in the game. It reduces an opponents speed by an amazing 75%, allowing even your slowest heavy hitters to pile onto your opponent's pokemon, particularly those frail sweepers who rely heavily on hit and run tactics. Additionally it gives them a 25% attack to be incapable of any attack. The idea would be to abuse all elements of paralysis and go in a direction most of the other CAPs have avoided.
Justification: There are many slow wallish pokemon that can paralyze an opponent but they generally come in two flavors: They either require stat-up to deal damage or they have a questionable offensive (or defensive) type or stats. The end goal of this concept is to make a pokemon that can paralyze often and abuse it to its fullest extent either through further move reduction options, free Leftovers turns, flinching attacks, or simply raw brute force applied to a formerly viable check. Eliminating the "speed-speed-speed" mindset of the metagame would open more opportunities for pokemon with other selling points.
How powerful is paralysis? The goal of this concept will be to push it to its limits. Will there suddenly be an onslaught of Limber/Quick Feet/Natural Cure pokemon and clerics? Will Gyro Ball pick up steam? Will EVs change to reflect bulk over speed? Hopefully we can see which of these effects come to pass.
Explanation: The onset of Toxic Spikes and in CAP specifically, Fidgit has led I think to an overemphasis on Toxic status. Many teams now purposely run entire lineups of Levitators, Flyers, and Steel types simply to make the effect of Toxic Spikes nil. It would be interesting to see what would happen if paralysis were feared status #1, as it was in RBY. Really this could go in a variety of directions given the moves that grant paralysis effects. For instance, the pokemon could have No Guard utilized with Zap Cannon or Serene Grace with Dragonbreath, Body Slam, or Discharge. Such strategies have already been proven useful ala Scarf Jirachi and Haxkiss.
Concept: Tag Team Partner
Description: A Pokemon that, when paired up with certain pokemon(s), accomplishes its own role (depending on the pokemon paired with) to a greater or more successful degree, or helps the pokemon on its team accomplish roles it would otherwise have difficulty filling.
Justification: Learning how pokemon "combos" actually work could be a great learning experience. We have all seen Gyarados and Electivire, Skarmory and Blissey, and all those successful combos, but by making a pokemon specifically to be a partner with one or more pokemon could expand the metagame, allowing for easier usage and even greater viablity of niches otherwise difficult to pull off, and possibly through this process realize what other combinations of pokemon we as a community have been missing out on that could make the metagame more variable and even enjoyable.
Explanation: This is the kind of pokemon that could go in one of many directions. I personally feel that it should be a balanced sort of pokemon, nothing to extreme physically or defensively, but able to adjust to whatever pokemon it is paired up with. Typing should be something that has a few resistances, so that it can aid in switching between partnered pokemon, but as far as weaknesses go that isn't too big of a concern, but let's try not to have psychic or flying weak like the 6 of the other 7 caps (but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make). This in my opinion could be a really fun concept to work with.
Name: The Pivot Point
General Description:This Pokemon would help add a new element to making offensive teams. Instead of going full glass cannon or bulky offense, it would be possible to structure a team around this Pokemon and use it strategically to keep the momentum of the battle going in your favor.
Justification: This Pokemon wouldn't be a wall. Nor would it encourage walls. This would take some hits and allow your offensive team a base to build itself around. Essentially the glue that holds everything together while your other Pokemon do their jobs. Ideally, it would also be able to dish out some damage, so as to hold momentum. It would definitely give a positive effect on the metagame.
Explanation: It will make the other Pokemon's job easier through support, yet it will still be able to keep itself on the offense with decent enough attacks. But its primary function would be to - through typing, stats, or combination of both, be the glue of the team that holds everything together to your advantage.
Concept: Bad, but in a Good Way
Description: A Pokemon that is built specifically to use and abuse a poor typing combination, hindering abilities, or underused moves (one, or a combination of any of the three).
Justification: This concept is, obviously, to help the community to learn about the affects of unorthodox stratgies on the metagame, as well as test the viability of moves and abilities that get no use on the server. Depending on how successful the project is, it could also provide new niches in the metagame, or have a positive affect on our metagame.
Explanation: Why doesn't Regigigas get any use? It has great raw stats, but a combination of horrible movepool and a terrible ability sets it firmly in the current NU. Change aspects of either of these could radically affect how it is played. For example, Trick Room and Protect to stall, or a less terrible ability to abuse it's massive attack stat. Another example could be Sableye, whose Stall ability could allow it to abuse "powered up if hit prior to moving" (albeit, Sableye needs better stats). This was already used when Skill Link Icicle Spear Cloyster was used to counter Garchomp, all that was needed was a creative solution. Why can't this work again? I propose we focus on one, MAYBE two of the above topics, create something viable out of it, and see how it affects the metagame.
Name: Its Just a Phaze
General Description: A phazer that can be used to interrupt late game sweepers and baton pass chains, as well as being able to abuse entry hazards.
Justification: Late game sweeping is one of the most used tactics in the current metagame. Phazers are an undervalued but still useful aspect to stall, balanced, and offensive teams. With the durability and stall tactics they utilise they can entirely cripple many teams. A primary factor that is occasionally overlooked is the phazers ability to instantly stop the majority of late game sweepers. Interrupting DD Outrage from Salamence can be the difference between a teams survival and its defeat. And having the ability to slowly kill Pokemon with entry hazard damage can be the most effective way to revenge kill. Phazers can be the some of the most lethal Pokemon in the metagame, without using a single attack, which is why I suggest a phazer for the CAP 8.
Explanation: Some preliminary ideas would obviously be stats wise this Pokemon would be defensive in nature. Speed would not be an important stat as the Pokemons job isnt offensive. Moves like Curse or Calm Mind could be effectively used to increase the Pokemons chance of stall. Helpful abilities could be Immunity, Shed Skin, Marvel Scale, and others that stop status from effectively destroying the Pokemons chances of phazing for long periods of time by toxic stall. Priority moves could be extremely helpful if a Pokemon switches in after a long phaze and is weakened but has the possibility to recover or sweep.
Name: The Giant Trap
General Description: A Pokemon that, through movepool, abilities or any other mean, makes the opponent think twice before switching
Justification: Well, its obvious what these concept tries to do: decrease the number of switches during matches. The reason for me to choose to ask for this is mainly the amount of time many games take, why? Because, after a lot of experience and learning, some players here have become so good that they know EXACTLY what will happen, and thus, they switch to have a Pokemon more.....suitable for the situation. Now, for itself, this is not something bad, however, it becomes tedious when both player switch so constantle that the damage they do to each other is too slow to make the game progress at a good pace. To avoid this, I suggest making this CAP the ultimate trapper, somethin that will make the opponent think "If I stay, I might cause some damage, or may risk myself to be cripled, but if I switch, I might let my opponent get ready for a sweep".
Now, Im not suggesting making another Dugtrio, that would be pointless. My suggestion is making more of a pokemon with the ability to either a) Cause some great damage of fleeing opponents (maybe by giving him a strong Pursuit) or B) Giving him the means to Ko 2-3 Pokes if the opponent switches on a bad moment
Explanation: The idea is just to make the game flow swiftly, make switches less constant so the games become much faster. Im 90% (notice I didnt say 100%) sure that the CAP metagame would be greatly benefitted by a trapper outside of Dugtrio`s fragility.
Name: Antibiotic
General Description: A Pokemon that doesn't mind, resists and/or benefits from having status.
Justification: The current metagame is centered around offense. Status moves will easily cripple most offensive Pokemon out there. A burn, paralysis or worse, freeze hax can bring sweeps to a grinding halt. Having a good counter for status in general will make status less likely to ruin an offensive team.
Explanation: The main methods of status countering are typing and more importantly, ability. Types such as Steel and Ground make the Pokemon naturally immune to commonly used status moves. Abilities are much more important because they can easily do things typing can't. Abilities that can be used include Guts, Flash Fire, Hydration, Immunity and Leaf Guard, among others. Base stats should be reasonably bulky, to allow a RestTalk set to be reasonable.
sbc said:Name: Anti-Stall Pokemon
General Description: A pokemon that hinders stall, whether through not resilience towards residual damage (like Bronzong or Clefable) or being able to threaten common stall team members
Justification: This concept should help us to learn about stall; how in normal OU play one could go about introducing stall-breaking elements into their play as well as knowing what aspects of a pokemon threaten to disrupt stall teams should you run one yourself
Explanation: Stall is one of my favourite methods of play and a very interesting one at that and this concept has much scope; we could create an ultimate pursuiter for instance to terrorise Rotom, Blissey etc or create an Infernape like sweeper or have a taunt/magic guard set up sweeper that requires you to have strong attacks to deter. I also think that stall on CAP is unbalanced compared to offense when there are pokemon like Revenankh, Arghonaut and Fidgit that provide the complete core of a stall team.
zarator said:Name: Kingdra in the Snow
General Description: A pokémon with good but not excellent sweeping potential which, under Hail conditions, can become definitely a threatening attacking force.
Justification: Let's face it. The only viable way to run hail in OU is through stall. Things like Glaceon, Syclant, Weavile and so on, can't give to said teams the sweeping edge. They are quite unviable in OU (Glaceon), better off sweeping in a non-Hail team which can support them better (Syclant), or do not benefit from hail at all for sweeping purposes aside from breaking Focus Sashes(Weavile).
While a single Pokémon can't all of a sudden completely change a strategy, we all know that Rain Offense would not be all that threatening without Kingdra in the equation (heck, whenever you see a Rain Dance setup you can almost bet that there's a Kingdra waiting in the wings!).
So, I'd say that it would have a positive effect on the metagame. It would give Hail a chance to stray a bit from stall by putting it on the offensive, and could give to a low-used weather effect a tool to shine a bit in the OU environment.
Explanation: Of course, Hail itself help little in the way of offense, aside from the damage itself and Blizzard accuracy boost. So, This Pokémon will need:
1) A proper typing. Ice/(Rock resistant type) is the most probable, but going for something non-Ice is a possibility.
2) A good ability. Probably a custom ability, since the current Hail-related abilities do not help sweeping directly. This ability would also nullify Hail damage in case CAP8 does not turn to be an Ice Pokémon (like Cacturne's case)
Elegy of Emptiness said:Name: Anti-Trick
General Description: A Pokemon whose purpose is to reduce the use of Trick via Ability or item abuse.
Justification: Trick, from what I can see, has become a very important Move to be aware of in game. Having your support or stall pokemon rendered completely unusable is putting you at a supreme disadvantage. With this Pokemon, sheilding your team from the chaos of Trick will be easier, while not totally obliterating the Trick strategy. I think this rather gimmicky tactic would introduce a new niche in the metagame.
Explanation: The pokemon itself will need a very unique "Anti-Trick" aura about it at first glance. The Ability would most likely be Sticky Hold, which would set things in stone. Then it would need the Typing that resists most Trick users other Attacks, quite possibly Dark or Steel.
Of course, the overall strategy of this Pokemon would be most likely excellent prediction. Trick wouldn't instantly become yesterday's news, since the whole idea behind Trick is that you're not supposed to expect it.
KamenRider said:Name: The Monkey Wrench Arsenal
Description: A pokemon capable of using a wide range of offensive utility moves, like Heal Block, Snatch, Worry Seed ect., as well as potentially using weaker offensive moves with uncommon effects, such as multi hit moves or trapping attack moves.
Justification: Defensive support and utility moves, like wish, entry hazards, the screens ect., having always been fairly common because of their consistancy and usefulness in almost any team build.
However disruption utility moves, outside the status effects and one or two exceptions, are rarely used because of their highly situational nature. This is a fairly untapped area of strategy we can explore and a niche that doesnt seem to have any current pokemon filling.
Explanation: Fidgit is arguably one of CAPS most succesful pokemon. Providing an extremly flexible utility pokemon. However I think its one failing is how its defensive suppor movepool and ability has completly overshadowed its more offensive natured ability and support moves.
I think creating an offensive support equivalent to fidgit would be an excellent addition to the game.
cyberzero said:Name: Leave a Legacy
Description: A Pokemon that cannot be directly countered but forces the opponent to think around it because after it faints, there may be other consequences.
Justification: This is also a good way to learn about how underused abilities and moves such as those mentioned in the explanation can affect the metagame. All of the CAP Pokemon that we've created so far have SOME type of longevity, but this would allow us to test how a quick come-in-do-something-and-die Pokemon would work.
Explanation: By means of abilities such as Unburden, Aftermath, or possibly a custom ability, moves such as Memento, Lunar Dance, Explosion, Selfdestruct, Healing Wish, a custom move, or a combination of such. This is NOT meant to be a good suicide lead, but do a very similar thing midgame or lategame. For example, if the Pokemon has Aftermath as an ability and his lategame sweeper is on a roll, you might be able to use Memento, lowering both attack stats AND leaving him with 25% less HP. This way, it gives you another chance to end his sweep. The opponent would not be able to outright go and attack the Pokemon because these consequences of, requiring more thinking on his part, but in order to use this, you must know what you're doing.
Elevator Music said:Name: Neglected Ability
Description: This pokemon will have an ability [or two] that is currently undervalued (but possibly very helpful) in the metagame but isn't used because the other pokemon with this ability don't have the stats or movepool to make it work.
Justification: This is probably one of the best ways to go about learning about the metagame. Seeing why certain abilities don't see much play and what we can do to make them more used is an easy way to learn about the metagame. There is also the possibility that this pokemon will have a beneficial effect on the metagame and/or will create a new niche in the metagame (or take the niche of an old pokemon that didn't see much play).
Explanation: There are plenty of abilities that we can base a concept around that don't see much play. I'm thinking things like Shield Dust (we all know how much I want a good pokemon to abuse this!), Shed Skin (though Rev has this covered imo), Simple, hell even things such as Solar Power or Forewarn. It would be silly of me to try and list out all the abilities we could use for this.
I like this concept because it doesn't restrict typing or stats or whatever. There are so many possible directions this could go in we aren't narrowing too much down, but at the same time I feel it provides just enough direction to keep the pokemon on track.
Afti said:Concept: Berserker
General Description: A fast attacker that gets stronger when it takes damage.
Justification: No Pokemon in the game can benefit from having a large number of things that 2HKO it. Nothing benefits from Stealth Rock. This concept would be able to excel under conditions which are less than optimal for most Pokemon, thus filling a unique niche in the metagame.
Explanation: It would add type diversity to Hail/Sandstorm teams, assuming of course that it wasn't Ice, Rock, Ground, or Steel. Water would be an excellent typing- it takes normal damage from Stealth Rock, Spikes, Sandstorm, and Hail, while it's got good resistances and only two weaknesses to potentially elevate 2HKOs to OHKOs. The benefiting from damage would have to be a new ability, although it could use Reversal. The Water typing would also allow it to deal with Heatran and Scizor nicely, as it could be switched in on a Fire Blast or Bullet Punch and survive, provided Scizor hadn't been allowed to set up. It would need to have good Speed, but otherwise could have decent stats all around- Defenses and the attack stats it would use would make sense to start out in the 75-90 area, since it would need to be able to take hits without dying immediately, and it shouldn't be able to sweep until it takes some damage. Bringing it in would have to be an evaluation of risk-reward, since if it died it would be useless, and it would be thoroughly average before taking damage. It could use Double-Edge, etcetera effectively- taking more damage makes them more powerful.
KD24 said:Name: Infinite Attack
General Description: A Pokemon that can use multi-damage attacks to break down the opponent's Leads and tankish Pokemon.
Justification: With Stealth Rock leads and wall teams led by Fidgit and Arghonaut currently dominating CAP, the Infinite Attack Pokemon should be able to give players something to break down this heavy Stall that rely on you not critting or not breaking their subs without relying on stat-boosting and gives lesser known moves a chance. This also would stop Substitute and Endure (the latter is rare, I know).
Explanation: The are plenty of moves (Double Hit, Double Kick, Fury Attack, Icicle Spear, and even Beat Down) as well as plenty of abilities (Technician, Super Luck, Skill Link, ect.) that could help this work. These moves are underused because they are generally on useless Pokemon, but they are so helpful, especially if your team is constantly in trouble from Sub Pressure Pokemon (Zapdos) or even Lead Focus Sashers (Azelf). If the right Pokemon we given these moves, we could see a whole new change in the metagame (more teams relying on high power to boost Beat Up and attack, as well as less teams relying to Pressure Stall or flat out stall, as these moves have greater chances of Critical Hits).
Raverist said:Name: Shapeshifter
General Description: A pokemon that changes strategy depending on an external influence or ability.
Justification: Quite a lot of teams in the metagame are reliant on stuff like weather or active abilities to win, and as many teams based around rain or sun would know, work incredibly well.
Explanation: This'll be pretty tricky to explain, so listen carefully. Taking a leaf from Castform, Arceus and Rotom, I've been fascinated by something that could be a wall one minute and a sweeper the next, then a supporter. This idea bases the fact that rain and sand teams are bloody hard to defeat, especially when Kingdra or Empoleon come in, primed to destroy anything in their paths, but what would happen if a pokemon who is pretty balanced for a start comes in and suddenly becomes a mighty mixed wall in the rain to stop Kingdra? Or if it enters the sand and becomes a special behemoth to put an end to Empoleon's reign of terror? This is what the idea is about. It could pull it off either by a special ability, much in the way of Multitype or Forecast, by hold item, such as with Shaymin or Giratina to Skymin and Giratina-O, or by some other factor, such as 'Appliance Interaction', in the way that Rotom and Deoxys can change forms ingame for wifi battles. This pokemon wouldn't be gimmicky as you can build it around countering entire teams, or even build it into a team for some tactical advantage.
Krow said:Name: Parasite
General Description: A pokemon that utilizes health stealing moves to a large advantage.
Justification: Helps learn the benefits and downfalls of these moves, possibly putting them to play in with other pokemon.
Explanation: Parasite has been in Concept for 3 CAPs now, and it's made it to the 3rd poll (I believe). But back to the topic, I believe that a pokemon could utilize these moves somehow, uzing STAB or something else to boost their low BP to help leech further help.
hydrolphin said:Name-The Anti Hax
Description-A pokemon that helps to eliminate "hax" from the game.
Justification-This pokemon would have a positive effect on the metagame because it would give someone the ability to keep luck from controlling they're battle. While bad hax can be played around, it makes it that much more difficult. And also, unlike most other thing in the game, there is no sure way to keep hax from getting to you.
Explanation-Hax is inevitable. People complain about it all the time. Stuff like Togekiss and Jirachi plague us with redundant flinches and FP. However there are many ways around this. Sadly most pokemon that have these abilities are too frail, much better at something else, or all around bottom feeders. Here is a list of anti-hax abilities that currently exist:
Battle Armor/Shell Armor-Prevents Critical Hits
Inner Focus-Prevents Flinching
No Guard-Prevents misses from both players
Shield Dust-Prevents all secondary effects.
This pokemon will also help the project as a whole. Seeing as this concept could be done very simply, we wouldn't have to devote the ENTIRE pokemon to this niche, like CAP7. That way we could end up with something that actually fufils its concept well, as it is not that hard to do.
Why you should support this concept:
1. After 2 VERY difficult CAPs in a row, this niche is easy to fufil, and gives us more room to stretch.
2. It offers an answer to something that the many people find to be bad, while not eliminating it completely. It also allows us to tell people who complain about being overly haxed that there is an answer to it, you just didn't use it.
3. It DOESN'T involve coin flips to deter hax.
Princess_power said:Concept: Tempest
General Description: A Pokemon which is not amazing on its own, but through use of abilities, moves, typing, etc, could become a serious threat or fantastic supporter for various weather-themed teams.
Justification: Weather based teams are nice, but the only common weather is Sandstorm; Hail based teams are generally limited to stall because of their lack of a "truly offensive"; sweeper; Rain teams are usually hyper offensive, and Sun teams are rare because they lack Pokes to fully abuse or benefit from them.
Explanation: I find any Poke that can use weather to excel at its role (Stallrein, Swift Swim Kingdra) extremely fun to play; it takes prediction and imagination to make a good team to support a certain weather. While creating such a Pokemon would be a bit different, it is a very open and variable concept. There are 4 types of weather currently, each with an empty niche that is screaming to be taken up. (Chlorophyll Fire, Offensive Hail, Stall Rain, Sandstorm abuser). Possible themes could include OU Perma-Sun/Rain, Hydration Tank, Hail Sweeper, Sandstorm Stat Boosts, etc. Moulding multiple themes together would provide a challenging and potentially enjoyable problem to overcome.
-I feel this may sound similar to Raverist's idea; I support his, but in my mind, I want this to be exclusively centered on the 4 varieties of weather.
ParadOxymoron said:Name — Switchmaster
Description — A Pokemon that specializes in switching out, and switching other Pokemon in safely. Also, to explore the area of switching in general.
Justification — Stealth Rock is undoubtedly one of the most centralizing move in the metagame. With this Pokemon's hazard-avoiding antics, it could serve to soften that decentralization and help more Pokemon switch in unharmed.
Explanation — Back in RBY, switching was just something you could do. Your Pokemon switched out, another one switched in, and that was the one that took the hit. But even as soon as GSC, it was already starting to get more complicated. Baton Pass allowed a Pokemon to pass on its stat moves! Pursuit could hit a Pokemon before it even switched! Things were starting to get spicy. Spikes, too, added to the mixture, by causing damage to every single Pokemon that switched in without Flying.
In RSE, traits like Natural Cure were added to encourage switching, and everything from Levitate to Shadow Tag added to its dynamics in one way or another. But now by DPPt, switching has really hit its stride. With the amazing utility of U-Turn, Pokemon can "get in a free hit" before switching out. Two more hazards, Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock, add on to the ground layer laid by Spikes, (get it?), and now it seems like there's nothing more that can be added to the aspect.
But isn't there really so much more to explore? In CAP7's development process, a move called Rift Hop was suggested for Kitsunoh. It didn't make it through to win the final poll because it wasn't fit for Kitsunoh's concept, but what it did was strike the opponent, then switch in another Pokemon to take reduced damage from entry hazards. But what if we had a move that made Pokemon come in with no damage at all? What if, even, this Pokemon had an ability that makes Pokemon it switches in, never take any damage from entry hazards? There's so much more we can do.
We started out with switching. Then at first, there were Baton Pass, Spikes and Pursuit. Now we're swimming in entry spikes, switching moves, and switching traits. But we can expand on that even more by introducing mechanics to, say, stat-up a Pokemon before they even switch in. Or have a move that switches a Pokemon in, then has that Pokemon use an attack of its own. And that's not even mentioning Wish and Doom Desire. What if this Pokemon healed a small amount of its health any time it switched out at all?
Those are all just some of the ideas I've come up with off the top of my head over the past few months that I've been mulling this idea over in my head. Think how much we can do as a community! From brining Stealth Rock to its knees, to bringing gimmicky switches beyond the boundary set by U-Turn, Baton Pass and Pursuit, there's no telling just how much we might find out by the end.
crynts said:Name: Ultimate Annoyer
Description: A pokemon, by utilizing its versatility, ability, moves, or speed to annoy the opposing team. This pokemon should not be a huge threat to the opponent however.
Justification: The new pokemon will balance out the matagame by creating a whole new niche and create the need for a variety of pokemon in the opponent's team.
Explanation: The current metagame does not have much variation. The new CAP should require different pokes to counter it, similar to Lucario. It should have some annoying ability like pressure, magic gaurd, or even shadow tag with the stats and a movepool to back it up.
That's all guys, get voting!Fuzznip said:Name: Can't Touch This
General Description: A pokemon that utilizes moves, abilities, stats, and/or type combos that make it difficult for the opponent to touch/damage the pokemon.
Justification: There is currently no usable pokemon that makes the opponent having trouble dealing damage to it. So, this would introduce a new kind of role I guess you could say when it comes to competitive battling.
Explanation: Ambipom would be considered an "untouchable" pokemon with the Flinch and Flee set, but sadly, Ambipom isn't very viable in the OU metagame due to it's weak defenses and small movepool. So I think that this would be very fun to use and frustrate the opponent trying to get something to hit a pokemon with this type of concept. I havn't seen any pokemon do this kind of thing in OU, so I think this would add extra "spice" to battling when coming across one of these.
