Concept Laboratory (and Workshop)

[IGotEaten]

Had a sorta fun idea, wanted to throw it out there.
Name: 1-Turn Wonder
Description: Extremely threatening on its first turn out, sorta middling after.
Justification: The first turn a Pokemon is out is pivotal to how it performs in a battle, so it could be fun to make a Pokemon built around it. It would also have great utility as a lead, which is a pivotal role on any team.
Questions To Be Answered:
(1) How can this Pokemon make the best use of its first turn in battle?
(2) How would this Pokemon fall off afterwards?
(3) What does this Pokemon provide against other common leads (Setters, pivot mons, etc.)
Explanation: A variety of tools exist that assist Pokemon in these roles, such as pivoting moves like U-Turn, setup abilities like Grassy Surge or Drizzle, and moves that only activate on the first turn in, like Fake Out and First Impression. A Pokemon I think fills this concept better than anything else is Lokix down in UU. It uses First Impression and Tera Bug to deal huge damage, then really only wants to U-Turn out, so it can do the same later. Frailness could also be a way to show this concept well, demonstrated by glass cannons like Weavile. I am aware that most of my examples are from UU, which raises the interesting question of how we could pull it off successfully for OU.

 

[kenn]

Feedback Time!

Name: Create-A-Parasite

I know I have praised this when it is submitted to the actual process, but I feel like we kinda have this inherently throughout other mons such as Obliteryx and the ones you mentioned that it feels fairly explored on the surface. I am not sure how to make this any more "appealing" to the masses and may just be a timing issue more than anything. That being said, it is a great concept...I just feel a bit like this is "beating a dead horse" with it being submitted for every SV process besides one so it may be something to revisit in Gen 10 whenever that comes around.

Name: Bring your Cloaks

While I appreciate the idea behind this concept, I think at this point of SV it is hard to effectively and successfully make this concept come to life just by the nature that the metagame is what it is nowadays with things running Cloak quite often just thanks to Garganacl or Mollux among other mons. My biggest issue to see this overcome is "How do we force that item disruption onto the opponent?" Like do we target mons that would rather run Boots or Lefties and are therefore forced to run Cloak to avoid what this concept's end product does or do we just falter to those mons already running Cloak on a consistent basis such as Zamazenta and Revenankh.

Name: Two sides, one coin

I think this is a neat way to approach the process and how it naturally just pigeonholes a concept into 1 set save the concept "forcing" it and so this one I really like just because I think it is pretty cool how customizable to make a Pokemon for possibly the same team archetype, but fulfilling the same role in 2 or more ways. I think it is nice you leave it a bit more broad to allow CA to nail down the approach and how exactly strict the community wants to be in the divisiveness of the 2 sets in fulfilling the same role.

Name: Living Life on the Edge

HP manipulation is something that yours truly has also thought of for a concept (just when brainstorming and nothing concrete though) and I find it extremely fascinating for sure. I think a good example to mention alongside the ones you brought up is Custap Berry shenanigans from 1v1. Custap Berry gives "fake priority" to a move which could be like a last hurrah for this CAP to either take down an opponent or even have something wild like Destiny Bond pop off. Definitely could also have more specific questions to ask/be answered with things like "how would this CAP perform under that type of pressure? Is a "pinch" Berry or ability enough or are there more things that can have potential but are generally tossed aside?" or "How does this CAP thrive with low HP when most Pokemon either want to keep themselves healthy or get in and get out?"

Name: Grand Entrance

While a lead Pokemon may seem enticing, it is pretty hard to actually execute in this day and age. That being said, I think there is merit in exploring a CAP that has way more potential early game than the late game, or rather just excel in one particular "gamestate", which is eerily similar to my first ever concept submission: Position is Key and I think using that old sub of mine as a guiding point for your own submission would be helpful in terms of fleshing out an explanation and the other facets of a full fledged concept submission.

Name: Thanks for the Hazards

I think the idea of this is more of a threat than the actual execution. Realistically, this concept is hard to achieve a well rounded and viable end product and has implications that may not be ideal for one to  want this CAP on their team. Self-Webs is cool, but the thought is that at the end of the day, you'd rather have the Webs on their side of the field to sweep the opponent. Loading up Defiant/Competitive mons is strictly more of a "what if" so you aren't then deterred by those Webs ending up on your side of the field. I think if anything, you could make this concept more of a broad spectrum that it could be a mon that "benefits" by either have the ability to punish for having -1 Speed or can be extremely resilient to entry hazards as a whole a la Equilibra. Not my favorite idea personally, but as it stands it does feel unfinished and I think there is something to explore but maybe need to scratch more than the surface on this one to find what's worth exploring.

Name: Nuclear Option

Tinkaton the concept is really cool! For real I don't have much to say on this and it seems good on paper and I think it would make for an in-depth process that could produce an interesting end result. No real critiques for what you have provided in terms of your questions and explanation so :thumbsup:

Name - From Nobody To Nightmare

This kinda feels similar to Cyaneedle's concept, but in the opposite direction. Again, I recommend looking at my concept sub I linked in their feedback, but as for what you have provided I have no real criticism except for maybe making a mention about more relevant things such as Kingambit or a Tera hog sweeper that wanna abuse or conserve those resources until the endgame to put the match to bed so to speak.

Name: Load and Fire.

While I think this would be an interesting idea in theory, it is a different story in practice. GF themselves have kinda circumvented this by way of Electro Shot as well as the item Power Herb and I think it would be a hard fought process to have something viable that uses 2 turn moves that couldn't have just used a higher BP move to begin with that most types have access to universally. This could be a good FlashCAP concept though since those are strictly thought experiments to show if it is even possible in the first place and I would 100% be down to do this for a FlashCAP.

Name: The Little Things

Ah, Technician the concept lol. Seriously though, lots of low power moves have weird and sometimes unique effects so it would be interesting to see how those would play out in a viable setting. As you mentioned, Scizor is a fantastic example of this concept but I definitely think it could be pushed even further and make quziel's dream come true of a top tier Fake Out CAP lol.

As for any of the other concepts that I didn't give feedback, I really did have much to say but if you ever want anything specific, I am down to make another post down the line. In my free time I am trying to work on writing out the concept idea I had so maybe I'll post that whenever I get that done. Love all the ideas posted so far and glad to see this thread is off to a great start in terms of being a workshop for good (or bad) concepts lol.

 

[IronTemplar]

Name: The Little Things

Description: A Pokémon that uses only low base power moves.

Justification: As it currently stands, the vast majority of moves remain unused in the competitive scene of Scarlet Violet; and serve only as moves used in a playthrough that get replaced later down the line. The lower base power moves that are viable in competitive often come with side effects that grant value to its user; namely Fake Out and it's priority flinch, and multi-hit moves such as Surging Strikes and Triple Axel.

Questions To Be Answered:

1) What defines a low base power move?
2) What role should this Pokémon take on a team?
3) How should this Pokémon take advantage of low base power moves?

Explanation: Most low base power moves remain underutilized, so a Pokémon which solely uses them is an interesting concept that not many Pokémon fulfil, if any. The one Pokémon that exists that sort of fulfils this concept is Mega Scizor, making advantage of the low base power Bullet Punch with it's Technician ability. A second approach is to give the Pokémon very good stats of which are balanced by having low BP moves.

Missed opportunity to call it "All the small Things" (Blink-182 reference), but other than that, fun!

 

[Guingil]

Don't want to make it superlong, advice on how to frame the explanation section would be really appreciated.

Name: Department of Redundancy Department

Description: This Pokémon positively uses redundancy or repeated elements in its kit.

Justification: Redundancy is normally avoided in Pokémon kits in favour of versatility. However, doubling up on similar or identical elements can provide unique benefits. This can be reliability, such as inflicting a burn with either Flame Body or Will-O-Wisp, or always being able to exploit STAB with both Freeze Dry and Ice Beam. Redundancy can also provide twice the resources, such as with double 50% healing providing 16 PP. In dual-typings, it gives 4x resistances, while redundant offensive STAB coverage (such as Dark/Ghost) can free up a moveslot by making only one STAB necessary.

While this multifaceted aspect has trickled its way into competitive Pokémon sometimes, this concept is an opportunity to define what redundancy really is, how it can be beneficial, and what drawbacks it poses. Given that it can be inserted in many stages of the CAP process, it can also make for a rich, engaging process.

Questions to be answered:

• What constitutes redundancy in Pokémon, aside from the trivial case of running near-identical moves?
• Do elements have to function independently to be redundant, and do synergistic effects (e.g., Salt Cure + Leech seed, Double Dance, Rough Skin + Rocky Helmet) count?
• What unique benefits can redundancy provide that a varied kit cannot?
• Is reliability/consistency in achieving an effect worth losing the ability to do much else? Is it a matter of the least cost, or the most upside?
• Does not possessing a varied kit necessarily make a Pokémon a matchup fish?
• What are the implications for the rest of a Pokémon's kit, and for teambuilding, to accommodate redundancy? Does it require compression of slots elsewhere to compensate?
• Which of offensive, defensive, and utility builds is most suited to exploit redundancy? What teams or playstyles can best take advantage of it?

Explanation:

Redundancy or repeated elements are often considered undesirable in competitive Pokémon, but they can be useful or even preferred. Similar moves, typings, or even move-ability or ability-item combinations can make for redundancy.

Running identical or similar moves often requires specialized kits for viability, but can provide unique benefits to those kits. Two 50% recovery moves result in double the PP and are most useful for defensive Pokémon like NU Vileplume. To make full use of STAB, Kyurem can run both Freeze Dry and Ice Beam for the situational upsides of each, but this is mostly due to the amazing offensive coverage of Ice/Ground. Similarly, users of Eruption/Water Spout/Dragon Energy/Blood Moon often pair it with another STAB move for reliability in their offensive breaking. (more examples here, double phazing, scald + lava plume, similar moves being called by Sleep Talk, etc)

(do moves or combinations with synergy count, my guess is probably not but there are interesting cases like gigaton hammer + blood moon, jaw lock + no retreat, double dance, etc)

(move ability combinations, flame body + wisp, poison heal/regenerator + roost -- often only one is run, if the pokemon has something better to do)

(typings can be 4x resistances, 4x weaknesses that can be afforded, or redundant offensive coverage actually providing flexibility)

The concept is inspired by redundant design in engineering, where critical elements have a backup in case they fail, or you overshoot your requirements so much that even in unexpected scenarios, your device does not fail.

s/o viol and bass for his help with this, especially the questions.

 

[Xeggutor]

Name: Dripping water wears through rocks

Description: This CAP pressures its would-be answers by repeated stat-dropping attacks

Justification:
Unlike setup or status moves, stat-dropping attacks are able to damage the opponent while also making the subsequent attacks more punishing. While these debuffs disappear when a Pokemon switches out, they can often force opponents to choose between staying at a disadvantage or giving up the positional momentum to reset their stats. Over the course of a battle, these repeated forced decisions can gradually overwhelm defensive answers despite the temporary nature of the drops. This concept explores whether stat reduction can serve as an effective primary form of offensive pressure, rather than just being an complementary bonus

Questions To Be Answered:

• Can repeated stat drops serve as a Pokémon's primary method of making progress?
• Which stat drops create the most meaningful offensive pressure while maintaining healthy counterplay?
• How much immediate offensive presence is needed to capitalize on repeated debuffs?
• Does our selected moves need to have 100% of a drop (i.e. Icy Wind, Acid Spray), or is anything with a high rate of happening (i.e. Seed Flare) fair game?
• How do temporary stat drops reshape switching patterns and defensive play?

Explanation:
The most well-known realisation of this concept is probably in the case of Shaymin-Sky, whose Specs Seed Flare could 2HKO Blissery if the first use results in a SpD drop. However, this concept is not limited to just wallbreaking through dropping Def or SpD. More subtle forms of stat reduction can be equally influential in gameplay. In SS OU I've seen Tapu Fini run Icy Wind which, while not OHKOing Dragonite and Garchomp, allows it to outspeed on the following turn for a subsquent with Moonblast. Even Atk dropping moves like Lunge on Buzzwole has seen some user in Ubers against Marshadow from overpowering it. This concept seeks to explore how repeated stat drops of any kind can reshape counterplay and become a Pokémon's defining method of generating offensive pressure.

 

[Volsur]

Name: Flipped Matchups
Description: This Pokemon changes its matchups and coverage by changing its opponent's typing or its own.
Justification: We have Pokemon that are viable because of their typing, and Pokemon that are viable in spite of their typing, but rarely does a Pokemon match well into an unfavourable type MU unless it has insane stats or strong enough coverage.
Questions To Be Answered:
1. Should this Pokemon focus on changing the target's typing, its own, or a mix of both?
2. How do we give this Pokemon reliable offensive attacks when its STAB and the opponent's defensive profile are constantly changing?
3. Is it better to utilise abilities or moves for these purposes?
4. What types benefit most from changing their defensive profile, or gaining new coverage?
5. How do we make this Pokemon actually want to run these moves/abilities instead of coverage?
6. Should this Pokemon have type immunity abilities? How do we stop it from being too matchup-fishy?
Explanation: There are quite a few type-changing moves in the game, however most of them are not used because they take up a moveslot, reset on switch and can be rendered redundant by coverage moves. Soak has seen a bit of use on and , but those Pokemon don't have many options and are low-tier. Forest's Curse, Magic Powder and Trick or Treat lack usage as well, despite being signature moves. Neither do the Conversions and Reflect Type, whereas Burn Up and Double Shock had a small niche with Tera. However, Protean and Libero are considered good abilities, while Mimicry is not(No Forecast mention as that is form/Pokemon tied). There's a balance somewhere there that is worth the opportunity cost of a move/ability slot, but is still balanced.