Announcement np: SS CAP Suspect Test 1 - Wish You Well

[Jho]

First of all we are sad to announce that SHSP has stepped down from the CAP council, we wish him all the best and are very thankful for all the help he has contributed since the council was formed.

Now that all competitive discussions about CAP 27 have finished, the CAP metagame council believes it's time to address Clefable. Since the beginning of Gen 8, Clefable has been one of the most dominant Pokemon in the CAP metagame. Its solid mixed defenses make it a great check to common threats like Dragapult and Kyurem, and it is incredibly tough to wear down in combination with Magic Guard. Clefable can either use its vast movepool to support its team or act as a powerful win condition.

Clefable's main set, Teleport, is capable of serving as a bulky pivot that simultaneously lets powerful wallbreakers like Kyurem or Conkeldurr switch in for free and constantly keeps your team healthy with Wish. All Pokemon appreciate the support Wish provides as offensive threats love getting a second chance to break down or sweep teams and it can be very difficult for the opponent to break through a defensive core when Clefable can reliably heal its teammates. Many times, the best way to fight against the increased durability of a team with Wish Clefable is using your own Wish Clefable.

Calm Mind sets are also a force to be reckoned, as its checks vary greatly depending on the coverage it carries, meaning that it usually takes at least two teammates to make sure you can deal with all its options. Clefable also has other support moves at its disposal like Thunder Wave and Knock Off that allow it to cripple some of its checks and counters, like Equilibra, Toxapex, and Mollux.

All of this contributes to creating a metagame where not using Clefable usually puts you in direct disadvantage, centralizing everything to a very unhealthy degree.

Each council member has compiled their thoughts on Clefable into a small paragraph, which can all be found below:

Jho

In my opinion Clefable is the single most centralising Pokemon in the CAP metagame, and I find the way it warps the metagame to be unhealthy and therefore, think it should ultimatley be banned. Its defensive utility is pretty much unrivalled as it acts as a check to the vast majority of the metagame and can even support its team in checking things that it cannot, thanks to its incredibly strong Wish support - allowing Pokemon such as Hydreigon, Equilibra, and Rotom-H to be far more survivable than would otherwise be possible which completely removes the idea of making progress versus teams with Clefable via traditional methods. Between the Wish Teleport set, and the less common but almost equally threatening Calm Mind sets, its pretty much a detriment to not have Clefable on your team, as we can see from its usage stats in the last few tournaments. This level of centralisation is not healthy for the metagame, in my opinion.

Jordy

Clefable should be banned from the CAP metagame in my eyes, and that's what I'll be voting. Clefable defines the metagame like no other Pokemon does; it is so incredibly versatile, both defensively and offensively, that it is pretty much always an optimal slot for teams. Not only does it make teambuilding in this metagame quite linear, but its Teleport set almost completely voids the concept of chip damage in games. It is far too forgiving for Pokemon that lack/don't run reliable recovery like Equilibra, Kyurem, and Hydreigon, which makes them so much more durable and consistently threatening than they are otherwise. While being great at sustaining these kinds of Pokemon, it can also be a very threatening wincondition on its own with Calm Mind, which can easily overwhelm teams given it has the right coverage move. It's almost impossible to minimize the impact Clefable has on games and it's quite unrealistic to cover every single variant of its Calm Mind set too. The combination of its very forgiving nature and versatility makes Clefable too much for the metagame in my opinion.

Mx

The amount of utility Clefable provides to a team is so much that on most teams, not using it puts you in direct disadvantage. By itself, it's already a fantastic check to common threats like Dragapult and Hydreigon, but the combination of its Wish+Teleport and Calm Mind sets really pushes Clefable over the edge. Wish+Teleport sets makes Pokemon that would usually lack healing like Equilibra incredibly hard to wear down, and lets them wall the opponent pretty much indefinitely, while also providing many free switch in opportunities for powerful breakers like Kyurem. Its Calm Mind sets can also be pretty overwhelming by itself, as its great coverage means it has no complete counters and usually requires a combination of Pokemon in order to be kept in check. All in all, the combination of these sets centralizes the metagame to an extremely unhealthy degree, and I believe the best solution would be to ban Clefable.

snake_rattler

Clefable's hold on the metagame cannot be understated. Its Wish + Teleport set allows Pokemon like Equilibra, Tomohawk, Hydreigon, Rotom-H, and many more to have an excessive amount of survivability that makes small amount of chip damage nearly meaningless. To this end, most teams have to resort to either extremely hard hitting Pokemon like Choice Specs Kyurem, Choice Band Pajantom, or Guts Conkeldurr to really make progress, and all of these Pokemon benefit from Wish + Teleport Clefable also. If a team isn't running Clefable, it's almost always a spike-stacking hyper offensive team or sometimes screens hyper offense. There's barely anything between Clefable balance and these hyper offense teams, which demonstrates to me that this set alone is very broken. Not only that, but Clefable's Calm Mind sets are fearsome on their own, as it can reach into its extremely deep movepool to beat down any of its checks. Overall, this Pokemon is detrimental to the CAP metagame and should be banned.

Suspect Information:

- The Suspect Test will end on June the 15th at 11:59PM GMT+1.
- To achieve voting requisites, you must reach a minimum of 79 GXE with at least 30 games played.
- You must use a newly created account to ladder, and the account must contain the prefix: CTC. For example, I might use the account CTC Jho.
- The regular CAP ladder will be used for this test. Clefable will be allowed.
- A majority of 60% of all eligible voters is required to ban Clefable.
- Do not attempt to cheat on ladder. For the purpose of minimizing the amount of cheating /ionext will not be allowed for suspect alts. If you are found using /ionext or engaging in other forms of cheating, there will be harsh sanctions.
- Please keep discussion civil and on topic.
- Please post proof of reaching the suspect requirments in the Voter Identification thread.
Tagging The Immortal to please implement this!

 

[G-Luke]

No one has given thoughts yet, so I guess i will.

I think Clefable, specifically its WishPass set, has a very negative presence on the metagame, turning balance builds into near unbreakable team comps, and as such established an extremely firm on the metagame. Being able to constantlly support walls and tanks such as Ferrothorn, Equilibra, Tomohawk makes chip damage near meaningless, and devolves Balance v Balance matches into "Who can Cripple the opposing Clefable first". Make no mistake however, its not walls alone who benefit from this. The real terror of Clefable is being able to keep up the health of top tier breakers such as Cinderace, Primarina, Smokomodo and Pajantom is what pushes it over the edge in my opinion, allowing them to comfortably break walls with no fear regarding chip in the early game, as it only takes a single Wish Pass from Clefable to undo all the damage they received prior, and repeat the process again. Wish Pass Clef does what it does in OU to an even better extent thanks to the solid backing of partners who can handle its various countermeasures effortlessly with a potential Wish backing them. But the worst part about this is that, WishPass Clefable may be its signature set, but it is FAR from the only viable one. CM Psyshock destroys typical WishPass counter in CM Mollux, essentially losing the 1v1 if Clef gets up a CM before it gets in. CM LO Clef funnily enough is a powerful balance breaker itself, having all the coverage it needs to pick and chooses what it wants to check it on balance (Psyshock for Mollux, Thunderbolt for Toxapex, Flamethrower for Equilibra). Not to mention, classic supporting sets that feature Knock Off, Thunder Wave and/or Stealth Rock still get the job done, and Thunder Wave in general is usually an effective means to cripple more offensive answers to the Wish Pass variants. With all of this in mind, I believe that Clefable is an unhealthly addition to the SS CAP Metagame, and if I find time to get reqs, will happily vote for its ban.

 

[Gleeboop]

No one has given thoughts yet, so I guess i will.

I think Clefable, specifically its WishPass set, has a very negative presence on the metagame, turning balance builds into near unbreakable team comps, and as such established an extremely firm on the metagame. Being able to constantlly support walls and tanks such as Ferrothorn, Equilibra, Tomohawk makes chip damage near meaningless, and devolves Balance v Balance matches into "Who can Cripple the opposing Clefable first". Make no mistake however, its not walls alone who benefit from this. The real terror of Clefable is being able to keep up the health of top tier breakers such as Cinderace, Primarina, Smokomodo and Pajantom is what pushes it over the edge in my opinion, allowing them to comfortably break walls with no fear regarding chip in the early game, as it only takes a single Wish Pass from Clefable to undo all the damage they received prior, and repeat the process again. Wish Pass Clef does what it does in OU to an even better extent thanks to the solid backing of partners who can handle its various countermeasures effortlessly with a potential Wish backing them. But the worst part about this is that, WishPass Clefable may be its signature set, but it is FAR from the only viable one. CM Psyshock destroys typical WishPass counter in CM Mollux, essentially losing the 1v1 if Clef gets up a CM before it gets in. CM LO Clef funnily enough is a powerful balance breaker itself, having all the coverage it needs to pick and chooses what it wants to check it on balance (Psyshock for Mollux, Thunderbolt for Toxapex, Flamethrower for Equilibra). Not to mention, classic supporting sets that feature Knock Off, Thunder Wave and/or Stealth Rock still get the job done, and Thunder Wave in general is usually an effective means to cripple more offensive answers to the Wish Pass variants. With all of this in mind, I believe that Clefable is an unhealthly addition to the SS CAP Metagame, and if I find time to get reqs, will happily vote for its ban.

I completely agree with your stance on Clefable. It is able to make teams last almost indefinately and it is able to pivot too well, allowing team members to come in without them taking damage. It is also very bulky and can take many hits for its team, and considering its only 2 weakness, its very hard to kill. Like you said, games with 2 Clefables in them turn into "Who can beat Clefable first" which isn't good for the meta. In addition, Clefable can learn protect, which is a good way to allow it to heal itself. It turns the question "Is this team viable in the current meta?" into "Can this team beat Clefable?" and if the answer is no, you are very likely to lose battles. This kind of focus on a pokemon is unhealthy and I agree that Clefable should be banned.