Pet Mod [Gen 1] RBY CAP - Revived! (CAP1 @114!) [CAP2 - Name/Art]

[Sabelette]

Approved by Pet Mods Staff here!
This project is in no way affiliated with the official Smogon CAP Project.
Partially adapted from DuoM2's original RBY CAP intro.

Art by The Faz​

Welcome to RBY CAP, revived! This is a project to enhance the RBY (Generation 1) metagame by slowly creating new Pokemon to fill unexplored niches and add new options to the RBY Overused metagame. Some of the CAPmons may be aimed for higher or lower power levels, but the vast majority will be aimed at diversifying the RBY OU metagame without destroying its basic principles. This means Tauros, Snorlax, and Chansey should still be the central Pokemon, Psychic-types should still be very strong, and new Pokemon shouldn't totally invalidate the roles of existing OU or OU-adjacent Pokemon.

Slates of new additions will consist of multiple Pokemon developed in tandem so that we don't have situations where a Pokemon is made too weak due to no counterplay existing yet (for example, a Bug-type developed before the addition of any good Fire-types or Flying-types to help check it) or too strong out of an expectation that counters will be made later. Slates may vary in size. The council will review submissions for each slate and provide comments, suggested edits, necessary edits for submission, or outright vetoes as needed.

Components of a slate:

Concept: define a (ideally unique) concept for a CAPmon that could provide something unique and balanced for the Gen 1 OU meta. These should be broad and based on role, not something specific like "Bug/Electric type Pokemon with high Attack and Defense but low Special." Think in terms of roles and niches - physical wall, setup sweeper, status spreader, coverage mixed attacker with poor STAB, check to Water-types, PP staller - and leave room for typing/stats/movepool to come later.

Typing: the CAPmon's type; it can be single or dual typed. This defines much of its possible matchup spread. Ideally, within each slate the types should somewhat balance each other out, especially when adding CAPmons of types that could disrupt the type balance, such as Fighting- or Bug-types, since these directly impact some of the strongest OU Pokemon.

Stats: the CAPmon's stats should support its role and typing while fitting within RBY stat distributions. Please don't give a Pokemon 160 Attack to compensate for a lack of physical STAB, and don't minmax their stats, such as giving them 10 Attack but 150 Special. Most Gen 1 Pokemon were not minmaxed and they didn't always have stats that fit with their STAB types. They also did not have the absurdly high stats of later generations.

Competitive Learnset: moves that are relevant to the CAPmon in competitive. High Base Power moves, strong utility moves, anything that would reasonably be run on the Pokemon's set goes here. Powerful moves like Surf, Thunderbolt, Body Slam, Thunder Wave, and Recover should ALWAYS be in this section and are definitely not flavor, even if the Pokemon lacks the stats to use them effectively. Keep in mind what is reasonable for the Pokemon to learn in Gen 1; many Gen 1 Pokemon only get moves of their own type(s) and Normal-type moves, and while we can bend the rules, we don't want to bend them too far. Also note that moves like Growl, Leer, and even Tackle can have competitive use depending on stats and role; take context into account for generally lower-power moves and consider if they might actually be relevant. In general, any move you could imagine being viably run in a serious match should be submitted in this phase rather than as flavor.

Name/Art: name the CAPmon, and submit art or general design ideas. You can submit a name without art or vice-versa, and if this happens we'll have a separate discussion and vote on the missing component. Ideally we'd like sprites in the Gen 1 style so we can directly have them added to the playable mod, but concept art is welcome too!

Remaining Flavor: this includes things like weight, height, unimportant/useless moves, and tradebacks moves. Basically, this slate and the one before it are for everything that will have no bearing on the battle. Each of these will be discussed through around a week-long slate before final voting for a given slate begins.

Other Notes:

• Signature moves may be submitted, but will be subject to increased scrutiny. Please don't make a signature move just to have one - only add one when it genuinely adds something unique and valuable to the CAPmon, whether as a competitive choice or as a useless flavor move. No new moves may be distributed to existing Pokemon, and signature moves may only use effects that already exist in RBY. No backporting moves from later gens, either!
• Evolutions or pre-evolutions for Pokemon can be submitted if they are 1- or 2-stage Pokemon. No reusing Pokemon from later generations - you can give Magmar an evolution, but it can't be Magmortar!
• Pet mod discussion should take place on the RBY CAP Discord - https://discord.gg/VE3az4p9D2- or in the #pet-mods channel of the RBY Discord.
  
  When designing a CAPmon, here are some things to keep in mind:
  • Make the power level reasonable! Ideally CAPmons should be somewhere in the range of 9th-20th in power on a theoretical viability rankings rather than overtaking staples like Tauros or Starmie, unless we are specifically doing a slate for an Ubers or low-tier Pokemon.
  • Some types, such as Ghost, are objectively fantastic in RBY, so CAPmons given these types should be balanced accordingly (bad stats, hindering secondary type, etc.). Similarly, Pokemon with Fighting or Bug STAB need to be balanced in a way that ensures they don't completely destroy the tier's balance by crushing Normal- or Psychic-types.
  • Keep the general RBY metagame in mind. For example a strong physical attacker with a sleep move could warp the metagame by pushing sleep past Chansey, making turn 1 paralysis more viable and changing the lead metagame. The council is here to help with vetoing or modifying ideas with far-reaching effects, so don't be afraid to take a shot at it or ask for help/second opinions on a concept.
  • Don't directly outclass an OU or OU-adjacent mon. For example "Jolteon but better" will be vetoed, but you can make a Swords Dance user that is more viable than existing C- or D-rank options, so long as it has its own unique upsides and downsides compared to existing ones. Similarly, don't make a CAPmon that completely deletes an existing OU Pokemon from the metagame by being valuable on every team and completely exploiting/walling said Pokemon.
  • Current staple OU teams should remain viable in RBY CAP. Players should not be forced to use CAPmons to have a viable team, though CAPmons should fill roles that make them worth bringing for team diversity.

Council:
gastlies
Sabelette

 

[Sabelette]

Reserved for various potential reasons

 

[Sabelette]

Pre-discussion is now open! Have any initial thoughts? Roles you want to see filled? Things you think should be added/changed about the guidelines? Feel free to post. Slate 1 concept pitches will be open soontm.

 

[gastlies]

Slate 1: Concept
​

The first component of Slate 1 is the concept! This is the overall role that you want the CAPmon to fill. The broader the concept is, the more freedom we will have to play around with stats/typing/moves later on. You will be allowed to submit up to 3 concepts, and we will later vote between them.

 

[Sabelette]

Here are my pitches:

Dual STAB Mixed Attacker: A CAP that has STAB on both a physical and special attacking type and can use them both to good effect. The typing should be original or better utilize a typing that already exists (for example, we have two Water/Rock types but neither actually gets Rock Slide), but I'd personally prefer to see an underutilized typing like Fire, Fighting, Bug, or Poison for one of the types. Make sure to give it a distinct role compared to Zapdos without being so good it knocks Zapdos out of the meta.

Break the Mold: This was an idea submitted in the original RBY CAP that I really liked and want to see here, because it didn't come to fruition. The concept is essentially making a CAP that plays against stereotypes of its typing. For example, Electric-types are fast, Rock/Ground-types have horrific special bulk, Normal types have every coverage move under the sun, etc. Pick a typing, then give the CAP stats and a movepool that defy stereotypes while still being viable.

 

[gastlies]

Dance Party! A good Swords Dance user. OU has zero common Swords Dance users, with the best ones still being very niche picks, so this CAP hopes to change that.

 

[SmackerOOOn_II]

Lockdown: A high-speed Pokémon with a solid defensive type whose primary purpose is to switch in, and utilize its general survivability to throw out lower value but high payoff moves, or moves that are only on less viable Pokémon. Examples include Haze for denying setup opportunities, Disable, to stop Pokémon like Chansey from healing, or Super Fang to pierce through defensive thresholds for cleaners in the back. It will have next to no offensive presence, maybe Double-Edge at best. And, due to its high speed, likely no Para/Sleep inducing moves to avoid MAXIMUM ROLE COMPRESSION.

Reverse Chansey: A Pokémon designed to have high HP and Phys-Def bulk but minimal Special, throwing out damage output similar to Chansey with Physical attacks and tanking moves from mons like Snorlax and Tauros. It would serve a similar purpose as a Tank that is good for pivoting and absorbing status, but would be outclassed due to how generally Special-dependent the upper echelon mons are. (Edited Addition)

 

[Gekokeso]

In High Spirits: This Pokémon introduces a new viable ghost type, without it being too overpowered or outclassing gengar. This is a very specific concept but I just thought this could be neat to explore, especially with how the big three of OU tend to play out.

I miss crythian :(: This pokémon utilises a move from a typing not commonly seen in ou to make progress. The title is very self explanatory if you played KEP back before the days of pre-crythian nerf, but it would essentially explore stuff like Hydro Pump or High Jump Kick as potential offensive moves, instead of common options like psychic or body slam.

 

[Tanny89k]

Status Absorber: Currently, Chansey is the default option for soaking up status. This Pokemon aims to sponge status in its place such that Chansey can remain clear of status, ensuring it doesn't get gimped by full paralysis when it matters most. As a status sponge, this Pokemon should be able to function while paralyzed; it must be able to tolerate the loss in speed and losing turns to full paralysis.

 

[eshe0]

Physical wall: The first thing to come to mind when thinking about high defense in gen 1 is cloyster or the rocks, however all of these work in practice more like wallbreakers or bruisers, non of them have a realiable healing move like softboiled or recover. This idea has room for exploration, a sort of "reverse Chansey" if you will (with lover stats, obv): specially frail, eats physical attacks for breakfast and heals up afterwards.

Priority Revenge Killer: A Pokemon that is inclined to viably use a priority move as an option to revenge kill/bypass paralysis and so on. This could be done, for example, by using a signature move and/or heavily limiting its movepool.

 

[RAALightning]

The goals of my submissions are to add more teambuilding versatility whilst being close to existing pokemon in the game. Additionally, I am a fan of bringing out underused types, and giving Alakazam little somethings over Starmie.

Fire Type Anti-Lead (Gengar Alt)
Oh yeah. Jynx has had it coming, only being scared out by Gengar's hypnosis, so a Pokemon who could melt Jnx turn one would be greatly appreciated. Despite the typing, coverage and enough special could allow it to face off against BlizzPsy Starmies, as well, whilst ideally being outsped and matched by Gengar and Alakazam. Additionally, more fire in OU would be a total plus.
I would go about it by making it an alternative to Gengar, a-la Burgundy Ninetales. Similar but different to the original ghostie allowing it to easily fit into RBY.

Grass Type Sleeper (Highcrit-Reliant Mixed Attacker)
Very original I know. Venusaur and Victreebel offer little defensive utility, and Exeggutor does not make use of its stab outside of mega drain. Razor leaf is a unique option offered by grass types, which could make for a great Mie killer, as well as a fun way to get around the special stat in RBY. More sleeper versatility is also great, as well as being able to help against Rhydon AND Zapdos.
I think a mixed attacker could be the way to go about this, being specially frail enough to fear Alakazam and Beam Chansey, but having razor leaf and rock slide to take down Starmie and Zapdos. It could otherwise be able to take up some of what Exeggutor does (status, defensive utility, boom) while being different enough to make its strengths shine through its cons compared to its goofy 3-headed inspiration.

EDIT:

Anti-Lead (Gengar Alternative)
A Pokemon that could be even scarier for jynx (and psyblizz mie?) than Gengar, whilst also possessing some but not all of Gengar's traits (High speed and special, sleep, eating normal moves, boom etc). This should not be better than gar, but still possess some pros over Gengar. An example I am inspired by is Burgundy ninetales, as in many ways it could be used of gengar, but had differences like neutrality to psychic, a strong stab attack and fire spin, but no boom and new weaknesses.

High Crit Reliant Mixed Attacker
I think the way crab hammer is used on Kingler is pretty neat, giving a pokemon with otherwise poor special a decent special attack. Why not build a pokemon around this, Allowing it to have a strong special attack alongside its physical moves, but fairly specially frail in comparison!

 

[LOrd Fernado]

Un-vamped: This Pokemon is based off of a Pokemon from gens 2-9, while it also being a Dark-, Steel-, or Fairy-type. (Obviously not GOING to be Dark- Steel- or Fairy-type). This is from the idea of MG1, as it still includes Dark, Steel, and Fairy-types, although they were heavily nerfed, so a different rework towards them would be good.

 

[NotVeryCake]

Mixed Attacker, Midgame Progress-Maker, Slow and Physically Bulky but Specially frail
I'm thinking something like a Fire/Ground-type, with good Attack, Defense, and Special but poor HP and Speed, think something similar to Cloyster but a bit slower, not quite as physically bulky and maybe hits a bit harder

 

[Acetylaldehyde]

Break the trio:
Something to provide defensive stability against both Zapdos and Rhydon, while not simultaneously losing to Starmie.

OU has become heavily defined by this Rock/Paper/Scissors trio of Zap/Don/Mie. Anything good into both Zap and Don, usually cant do much to starmie. Designing a mon that could switch into Zap&Don while not letting Mie in for free could break up this dynamic. Importantly, this mon should still have troubles with standard teams that dont have Zap or Don (special or psychic weakness comes to mind).

Jumping ahead: I think this would be best served by a Rock/Grass dual type with high def low special. So it would have neutrality to all of Zap/Don main attacks, razor leaf/stun spore to keep mie at bay, but it would still be weak to ice coverage, and paralysis would inhibit its ability to fight starmie. However, some users have pointed out electric/grass may work better, but this is a discussion for the future.

 

[M0onStarr]

Secondary Effect Abuser : With the unique RBY mechanics of Secondary effects not effecting Pokémon of the same type, I think it would be interesting to make a generally weak pokemon that has moves with very powerful secondary effects (probably a sig like this), that have generally common typings. The pokemon would likely be mediocre all around, with a relatively common type, and would rely on secondary effects to make most of their progress.

 

[The Faz]

Dream Eater - A pokémon that uses Dream Eater (or a similar opponent-must-be-sleeping new move) to punish rest users like Snorlax, Jynx, Cloyster, etc. This pokemon's powerlevel and place in the metagame would be similar to Slowbro, in that it's rare and not super reliable but that it's a real thread when it does come up and that needs to be respected. This would create interesting gameplay where revealing this mon would shake up the dynamic of the fight, punishing careless Rests. In essence, it'd act like an offensive Slowbro - Slowbro is rare and not that good but can take over a game; this mon would be the same, but for offensive play rather than defensive play.

Wrapspam Helper - One of the few RBY strategies that don't fit neatly into the "Balance" box is wrapspam - using mons like Arbok, Dragonite, Victreebel, etc, with the goal of paralyzing/toxic'ing the opponent's team and then wrap them to death. There are many ways that we can help this team out - any new partial trapper with twave and a way to hit ground types would slot in perfectly but there are other more creative niches we can do with signature moves - an incredibly slow mon (~30 SPE) with a 100% accurate wrap move, making it only useful for pivoting or for finishing off paralyzed mons - a mon with a move that poisons a target and slows them, setting up a wrap user to come in to finish the job - etc. Lots of stuff to play around with here

 

[WildCard782]

Grass Type Setup Special Sweeper: All of the grasses in Gen 1 are rather slow, with no way to out speed faster mons besides help from paralysis. Additionally, they all attack with the unboostable Razor Leaf or the rather weak Mega Drain, making Growth/Amnesia all but wasted on them when compared to Swords Dance, and Exeggutor, who has the best special and Psychic to work with, lacks a special boost move. This hypothetical Grass type would break the trend by having access to both Agility and Amnesia to make it truly stand out as a setup mon. It would ideally use these boosts to sweep w/ most likely Petal Dance or some non-crit rate grass move once the typical grass walls are eliminated. Stats and potential secondary typing/movepool would be fine tuned to keep it from being too overpowered or too worthless.

(Below I list an example of how I could potentially see this working out in a unique and interesting way, although this doesn't have to be the final outcome by any means)
Ex. a secondary Fighting typing with access to STAB Fighting type kicks like High Jump Kick, Jump Kick, Rolling Kick, and/or Low Kick, which wouldn't help it at all against Gengar, Exeggutor, or Zapdos who would only counter it harder, but would allow it to be a primarily special attacker who isn't afraid at all of Chansey, something that is mostly unique in RBY OU). I predict a middling physical bulk and base speed but a decent attack stat and a really good special stat (triple digits at least). Something like this would allow you to run a special sweeper who can defeat Chansey/a Fighting type who can obliterate Starmie and perhaps other Psychics if setup. Petal Dance would mean commitment to the sweep while also being the best existing grass type move to combine with Growth/Amnesia. If it has a status move, I would imagine it being one of the less accurate sleep moves like Sing or Hypnosis as opposed to a powder or spore, with paralysis mainly achieved through Body Slams.

 

[Sabelette]

I'd like to remind people in advance of official feedback that concepts are meant to be broad, try to avoid defining specific typings or stats/movepool in this stage as best as possible. Some concepts do require a specific type or move to make sense, yes, but a lot of concepts posted don't need a specific type! For example, a Jynx anti-lead really is not forced to be a Fire-type.

Anyway, gastlies and I will have feedback to give soon, then we'll have a 72-hour warning on submissions before moving to vote.

 

[gastlies]

Sub Review!
Needs Rework --> Read the comments and change accordingly
Veto --> We won't accept this unfortunately
If there's nothing at the end the sub is ok as is, but you should still read the feedback to see if it can be improved

Lockdown: This is a really interesting idea. It's broad which is good, but some of these moves (like haze) are bad for a reason, so I'm not sure if it would use the move even in practice.

In High Sprits: The concept should focus more on roles at the moment, and Typing will be decided later. This one should be reworked. Needs Rework.

I miss crythian :(: This might be a little vague. I can see this going two ways. The first way is by adding an underutilized offensive type such as Fire or Poison. The other is adding a bug or fighting-type that completely breaks the meta. I would prefer the former to not shake up the tier too much.

Status Absorber: This one is good, no feedback here.

Sturdy Bug: Again, typing is gonna be decided later. I would focus more on the "sturdy" aspect than the "bug" aspect. Needs Rework.

Priority Revenge Killer: This one is good, no feedback here.

Fire Type Anti-Lead: Save typing for later, something like "Anti-Lead" is a good concept on its own. Needs Rework.

Grass Type Sleeper (Highcrit-Reliant Mixed Attacker): Same as above, fine if we dont force the type to be Grass. Needs Rework.

Un-vamped: This just looks like backporting a mon from gens 2-9. Veto.

Mixed Attacker, Midgame Progress-Maker, Slow and Physically Bulky but Specially frail: Wayyyyyy to specific. The concept should be a lot more broad than this. Veto.

Break the trio: Cool idea but the typing will become very restrictive due to the matchup spread it also needs to achieve. It'll also be hard to balance since it beats 3 top mons. Maybe focus on two of these three matchups instead? Needs Rework.

Secondary Effect Abuser: It's ok, but seems very reliant on a signature move. Remember we want the signature moves to just be a bit of spice that's added, not something the mon is based on.

Dream Eater: Dream Eater is just not a good move in general since the sleeping mon often switches out. Punishing rest is already pretty easy with mons like Starmie anyway.

Wrapspam Helper: Nothing inherently wrong with this concept but I'm not sure if anyone actually wants to make Wrapspam a viable strategy due to how unfun it is.

Grass Type Setup Special Sweeper: The Grass-type part is too specific, but just "Setup Special Sweeper" is good. Keep in mind we already have an amnesia sweeper in Slowbro though, so a different move (Growth, Agility on a purely special attacker) would be cool. Needs Rework.

 

[Sabelette]

With the sub review and the sheer number of submissions sent, 72 hour warning on submissions! We will still post a review on any new subs that come through and give a little time for reworks if needed!

 

[NotVeryCake]

Growth Set-up Sweeper
I'm fascinated by Growth as a set-up move, and in standard OU it doesn't have any notable users as the only Pokemon that get it are Grass-types, two or which have an always crit move. I'd like to see it get some actual use on a Pokemon, preferably this Pokemon should have STAB on a special-type to properly take advantage if the boosts offensively.

 

[cyclonez_]

red text is edits since review

Late Rally
This Pokemon is best when kept healthy and safe until the lategame, where it attempts to clear a weakened team after chipping down its teammates. This Pokemon should be committal to send into the field, probably via needing a turn of setup to be truly threatening. While not devoid of defensive utility and support, it's not a Pokemon you're going to want to risk. This is a role often taken by Tauros thanks to that 'mon's sheer offensive prowess; this concept would serve as an alternative to the lategame by giving it distinct qualities that separate it from other cleaners.

Status Shake-Up
This Pokemon is designed to add variety to the status condition metagame by making use of Burn or Poison by giving it a strong way to apply those conditions and a good reason to use them, instead of another Thunder Wave or Body Slam user. Burn in particular is interesting to me, since there's no reliable way to apply it in RBY, just getting the proc on Fire-type moves, which are rarely seen outside of STAB. following sablette's feedback we can just assume this is a "burn user" submission

 

[Sabelette]

Quick feedback:
Growth Setup Sweeper: Concept is fine but it’s a little odd to post that when the last submitted concept before yours was pretty similar; if they edit theirs to be in line with guidelines then this gets a veto just for being second.

Late Rally: This is a role that is also done by Zapdos, Rhydon, Alakazam, etc; this actually feels too vague to me and I’d recommend defining it a little bit more.

Status Shake-up: we may as well just say “burn user” because poison is just worse burn and there’s almost no reason you’d ever want something poisoned rather than burned. Still, it’s a good idea that has inherent balancing mechanisms since burning a starmie or chansey is a game-losing move.

 

[WildCard782]

"stab" Speed + Special Setup Sweeper: A rework of my original idea that widens the possibilities while still fulfilling a unique concept. Simple, a primarily specially attacking Pokemon that sets up with agility and growth and sweeps, perhaps one that uniquely has the ability to deal with Chansey still but gets hardwalled by numerous other ou staples? I feel like a lot of special attacking mons get hardwalled by Chansey and it would be cool to see a special mon who has to worry about a lot of other walls instead but can actually handle Chansey fine enough, kiiiiiiinda akin to Jolteon in that aspect but needs setup to be fast and a different type of course.

 

[Sabelette]

Final review; no more submissions will be accepted for this slate, and submitters will have 24 hours to edit their concept before voting goes live tomorrow. Please post any final edits as a new post so we can see that you changed it more easily.

Dual STAB Mixed Attacker: Approved
Break the Mold: Approved
Dance Party!: Approved
Lockdown: Approved
Reverse Chansey/Physical Wall: Approved; merging these two because the concepts are very similar
I Miss Crythian: Approved
Status Absorber: Approved
Priority Revenge Killer: Approved
Anti-Lead (Gengar Alternative): Approved
High Crit Reliant Mixed Attacker: Approved
Break the Trio: Needs rework; concept is still a bit too specific. This would probably make a great slate 2 concept with some editing to be a little less specific, but you're welcome to edit it for a re-look before this slate closes
Secondary Effect Abuser: Approved
Dream Eater: Vetoed; ultimately this revolves around a single move that has no real targets and we already have a theoretically-excellent Dream Eater user that gets nothing from it. The move is almost strictly worse than Psychic and there's not really a way to make it better than it already is on Gengar other than give it STAB, and punishing Rest is actually easier with Psychic than with Dream Eater. Admirable effort to make the move relevant but I don't think we can do that without rebalancing the move itself, which is outside the scope of CAP.
Wrapspam Helper: Approved
"STAB" Speed + Special Setup Sweeper/Growth Setup Sweeper: Approved; merging these two because the concepts are very similar
Late Rally: Needs rework; too vague when we already have at least 4-5 mons that could fit this mold in OU. Specify a bit more what the mon does - does it need setup? Paralysis support? Just need chip on everything? Does it have utility midgame like Tauros and Zapdos and can it wallbreak, or is it pretty explicitly just a cleaner?
Status Shake-Up: Approved