CAP 18 CAP 18 - Part 1 - Concept Submissions

[DeathCapsule]

DeathCapsule (Creativity in Simplicity) - There are a lot of concepts already that deal with typing, although yours does set itself apart with exploring moves that don't commonly accompany the typing we choose. Do you think only adding underused move combinations will be enough to redeem a poor type combination? When we created Mollux, the CAP your concept most resembles, we had to carefully select a stat spread and ability to go along with the movepool. Could you provide a few examples of moves that could accompany various type combinations that could fit your concept?

Thank you! I did add some examples now. And yes, I do think that good moves can redeem poor type combinations. That's what the Poison-type one I had was made to represent. I have this CAP sort of as a mix between Mollux, Stratagem, and Cawmodore, with expansion with connection with a strange type combo with well-fitting but unique moves.

 

[M-WHALE]

M-WHALE (The Core Breaker) - First of all, remember to format your concept correctly. You currently have the name bolded and the General Description posted afterward. Look at the other concepts that are formatted correctly and adjust yours. This is a pretty good concept, we could discover new offensive or defensive cores to replace the ones we counter. Although there are a couple concepts similar to this in the thread, I see promise in this concept and enjoyed reading your Explanation.

Just popping in to say that i fixed the incorrect formatting with the name and general description on my submission. I also added a bit to the explanation and justification. Thanks DetroitLolCat!

 

[Deck Knight]

Geez, I miss everything... CONCEPT TIME:

Name: Mega Buster (Decentralizer 2.0)

General Description: A Pokemon that takes into account the top threats of the generation, and is built specifically to diminish their usage and increase the usage of other threats.

Justification: Taking a trip in the wayback machine, there was once a concept to build a Pokemon that would isolate and counter the top threats of the metagame in order to shift it towards different threats. That was in generation four. Now that Mega Pokemon and the Fairy type exists, what makes this concept appealing is the amount of both power and defense creep that has gone on since then, and the sheer number of threats.

Questions To Be Answered:

• Which Top Threats, if neutralized, would lead to a more balanced and better competitive metagame? Which Pokemon would fill the vacuum once these threats are weakened?
• Given that Mega Evolution's only real weakness is that the Pokemon can't do it on the switch-in, and that Mega-evolutions constitute top threats, what is the best way for this Pokemon to either exploit this one weakness or account for it.
• What are the common weaknesses of the most centralizing top threats, and what playstyle would a Pokemon designed to decentralize them focus on or encourage?
• Has the metagame moved on from Pokemon being top threats to Cores being top threats, and if so, which Core is centralizing the metagame, and how can it be broken?

Explanation: The original submission of this concept was during Arghonaut (before we asked questions, heh), which ironically was built around decentralizing a metagame with CAP Pokemon. What makes this a great concept for a first CAP of Gen VI is that it gives us a platform to analyze which Pokemon truly center the game around themselves, and does it early enough that it can serve as its own kind of suspect test. With so many Pokemon and strategies able to be employed (this concept was originally introduced before eviolite, before fairies and Assault Vest, before even stuff like Magic Bounce) in the current metagame, it forces us to focus on the top threats of the metagame. I didn't list a specific number, but three is generally a good starting point - but perhaps there are one or two so centralizing that those are the only two that need our attention.

 

[bugmaniacbob]

The concept is taboo, yes, but there is nothing wrong with that.

Not to rain on your parade or anything but I totally suggested "Defensive Characteristic" which was a more focused version of yours all the way back in CAP11, the idea is hardly a new one

---

Anyway if I had to pick concepts that I would slate these would probably be somewhere around the top:

ohgeedubs (Outclassed) - I don't know why but for some reason I really really like this concept, it seems to offer an opportunity both for looking at opportunity cost and the possibility of looking at the effect of doubling up with its Mega counterpart. It would be especially good if it paired well with one Mega while being outclassed by another, hence opportunity cost, while at the same time being a good partner to the Mega that outclasses it for sake of overpowering their shared counters. Altogether a very solid concept - I would simply add that, perhaps you might consider changing the name, since as DLC already noted, it seems to emphasise a less important part of the concept, or rather calls to mind themes that are not shared by your concept.

senshidenshi (Movin' Out) - I like the idea of a good Fell Stinger 'mon. All joking aside, there are a lot of good weaker moves and while I'm not a fan of the "make this move work" style concepts in general, I do like the idea of a Pokemon centred around a variety of weaker moves, in some respect, and I can see a fair window for discussion on how this could be achieved. I wouldn't say it's my favourite of the bunch but it certainly has my attention, provided that it is specified that this is many low-power moves, not just a single one to be decided later.

TorterraX (Predictable Me?) - I do actually like this one, and I disagree with DLC that it is impossible to pull off. Stop me if I have misunderstood your concept, but it seems to me that, rather than this being a generic lure Pokemon, this is one that possesses a number of attacks that can be used repeatedly to little effect and places the expectation in the opponent's mind that the Pokemon will continue to do the same, then when it changes the pattern it is unexpected, rather like Rotom-W suddenly switching from Volt Switch to Hydro Pump to catch out something. My gripe here is that it may be hard to create a Pokemon where this tactic is both consistently successful and also better than the alternatives of just continuing to do what it was doing previously - Rotom-W, for example, doesn't tend to spam Volt Switch as its every single move as far as I am aware.

Qwilphish (Not Vary Riksy) - I'm intrigued by the idea of "little risk to put on a team" because that certainly doesn't seem to be something that exists at present - as far as opportunity cost is concerned, the only things that have no risk to being put on a team would be those that are exceptionally good on any team, as you say. Yet, in this case, the low risk is intrinsically connected to the high reward output - if it wasn't low-risk, the returns would not be perceived as so great. An offensive Pokemon, then, in this case tends to be judged by how often it succeeds, and as such, if a Pokemon fails more often than not, its perceived risk increases. Because of this, I feel that this could only be accomplished through a defensive or support Pokemon that pushes a single job of middling returns but which is consistently useful and hard to stop doing its job. Even so, I'd be happy to be proven wrong on that last point.

TheTraininator (The Pacifist) - White Mage Girls are fun, and this concept is fun. A Pokemon that is entirely given to supporting its team would certainly be an interesting end product and one that I'm sure we'd all enjoy making. More importantly, it's something that doesn't really exist at present and gives us an excuse to think a bit more about the nature of support and how it can be made consistently viable. I'd want to ask, would moves such as Toxic and Will-O-Wisp be considered as eligible on such a Pokemon? I would have imagined not, but I'm not certain of your thoughts on this.

Lasagne (Parting Shot Pivot) - As a general rule I am given to loathe concepts centring around a single move, as I mentioned earlier. Even so, I like this concept because Parting Shot, as a move, absolutely fascinates me. It's a pivot, and it's making use of a move that essentially guarantees a free switch (or relatively free switch) for its teammate at the expense of not damaging the Pokemon that comes in. I can't help but feel excited about what could potentially be done with a move that, really, simply has no way of ever seeing light in OU otherwise.

Agile Turtle (Pivot Predator) - Zzz anti-pivot concepts. We've had a lot of them, but they seem to be exceptionally popular this CAP for some reason. No idea why. As DLC mentioned, the problem with such a concept is that there is a real difficulty in implementation, since there's no real way to actually threaten all of the various different OU switchers - at least one will have some means to fight back, and the very concept of pivoting prevents them from being trapped by any traditional means. As far as this particular concept goes, I like it better than some of the others because it focuses a tad more on the momentum aspect, in that being able to win back momentum even given, or especially in, the presence of a pivot unit would be an interesting way of bypassing the "all-encompassing counter" problem. I can think of a few ways this could be done.

wh0sy0urpapa (Banned for Spam) - Again, similarly to the above, "easily spammable moves" have a diverse array of users and it would be next to impossible to create a Pokemon capable of taking them all on at the same time. On the other hand, hey, if a means could be found it would be an immensely fun concept to try out, and the discussions it could provoke would probably be worth the time. So yeah, including this one for discussion, not entirely convinced it's feasible. You should really provide some examples of how you would go about approaching this concept in the "Explanation" section, since at present it seems cluttered with a treatise on how nice such a Pokemon, if it existed, would be good for the metagame, which is nice but does not address the biggest hole in the argument. If you can address this I'd be much more inclined to support it.

 

[AnnoyingLeprechaun]

Name:
All The Right Moves In All The Right Places
General Description:
A pokemon that has the movepool, stats, and ability to be able to contribute something useful to your team in almost any situation
Justification:
pokemon is a game that can shift very quickly whether it be stopping a sweep or setting one up. The problem is that once the damage is done, it can almost completely impossible to recover. But what if that was not the case? What if there was a pokemon that could help you adjust the game to change the game or slow down the opponents.
Questions To Be Answered:
Would people make changes to teams to counter this pokemon?
How could a pokemon that can do anything not be overpowered?
Is it possible for a pokemon to do anything?
Explanation:
The problem with most pokemon is that they are not versatile. Pokemon tend to only be able to do what they are meant to do. The OU metagame does not have a pokemon that can help no matter the situation. This pokemon would be able to help a team whenever and wherever needed. Whether taking some hits or finishing things off this can do it. This would not need to be able to sweep teams consistently but take down one or two things. A pokemon that can contribute to almost anything would be helpful and is seriously needed. This pokemon would be able to at least partly accomplish that.

 

[Torkoals]

My concept, Momentum Freezer, as DetroitLolcat aptly pointed out, and i thank him for the criticism, would need a method of inflicting freeze, if it was even possible too unleash such powerful status and still have an at least semi-balanced metagame. I would suggest an ability that raises the chances for a freeze off of moves that already have a chance, and pairing this with a CAP that can't abuse it too heavily, that otherwise would be terrible. This method could also pose the question, and hopefully give some sort of answer too, Can an ability affecting just status make a pokemon otherwise unusable viable?

EDIT: ryby's concept is very interesting, and could give items that have been left behind in XY OU a second chance

 

[WhiteDMist]

I haven't participated in CAP except for a concept submission for CAP 5 last gen. I've dusted off my submission, renamed it, and explained it a bit better this time around. Also, this concept can be considered as falling under the umbrella of the more general concepts: One Mind by ghana.7, The Pacifist by TheTraininator, and Stall vs. Stall by LudicrousLugia . This is just a bit more specific while still having room to maneuver.

Name: The Struggle

General Description: A Pokémon specializing in PP stalling one or more opponents using one or more methods.

Justification: PP Stalling is a strategy that tends to occur only in long stall battles or in certain Other Metagames (I 'm sure we've all noticed that one replay on PS). Yet outside of these kinds of situations, it isn't generally a strategy that players actually aim for except as a last resort/if they have nothing better to do. This concept aims at learning how far one can attempt to PP Stall the opponent, the various methods that can be used to this end, and the means to incorporate such a specific strategy into one or more playstyles.

Questions To Be Answered:

• What are the various methods to PP Stall, and what are the necessary components?
• Is PP Stall a viable win condition?
• What effect(s) (if any) will PP Stall have on moveset choices during teambuilding?
• Can a Pokémon rely on PP Stall and still be viable in the metagame?
• Will PP Stall affect how conservatively a player uses their low PP moves?
• What kind of teams would a PP Stall specialist fit into?
• Is it possible to PP Stall in a offensive manner and/or a defensive manner?
• What other factors must this concept take into consideration to achieve a viable PP Stall CAP?
• Is such a strategy better as an overall team focus or as a support to a bigger overall strategy? Can it be both?

Explanation: PP Stall is mostly an ignored strategy, mainly because few Pokémon are dedicated solely to it. There are several Pressure Pokémon viable in OU, but for most of them it is a fall-back strategy when they have no reason to use their many other (mostly support) options. Moves that reduce PP are available, but are a waste of time for little to no short-term/mid-term benefit. So what this concept would focus on are strategies that actively try to stall out PP and find out which ones would truly be effective. The few non-Pressure Pokémon that can PP Stall generally use strategies such as: SubRoost, Wish + Protect, RestTalk, or just spamming other forms of recovery. There is no need for a CAP using this concept to rely on any of these mentioned strategies (though they would definitely help as a launch point), as these tried-and-true strategies are moderately known and wouldn't help us learn too much more. But there are other aspects (typing and stats for the actual CAP process, battling abilities for actual games) that also play a role that we as a whole have little knowledge of that can make or break this concept. That's also not taking into account your opponent either. Affecting people's decisions about power vs. accuracy (as many powerful moves have low PP and/or is inaccurate) is just one of many factors this concept would touch on.

As for how applicable/transferrable this concept would be in the regular OU metagame (or in any other metagame): PP Stall may be an underused strategy, but it can occur in a battle when you least expect it. Understanding all the variables that need to be taken into account on both sides is the key to this concept, and it is definitely knowledge that can be used everywhere. Even in the normal OU metagame there are low PP moves that can easily be stalled out and, thanks to new mechanics, we have even more factors to take into considerations such as typing and status relations. Even learning something about how stalling out just one move affects one's overall strategy would be a great thing to take from this CAP concept. It would be a great learning experience to see what ideas are used to try and make this concept a practical reality, even if we aren't blundering around in the dark for it.

 

[ohgeedubs]

Not to rain on your parade or anything but I totally suggested "Defensive Characteristic" which was a more focused version of yours all the way back in CAP11, the idea is hardly a new one

---

Anyway if I had to pick concepts that I would slate these would probably be somewhere around the top:

ohgeedubs (Outclassed) - I don't know why but for some reason I really really like this concept, it seems to offer an opportunity both for looking at opportunity cost and the possibility of looking at the effect of doubling up with its Mega counterpart. It would be especially good if it paired well with one Mega while being outclassed by another, hence opportunity cost, while at the same time being a good partner to the Mega that outclasses it for sake of overpowering their shared counters. Altogether a very solid concept - I would simply add that, perhaps you might consider changing the name, since as DLC already noted, it seems to emphasise a less important part of the concept, or rather calls to mind themes that are not shared by your concept.

senshidenshi (Movin' Out) - I like the idea of a good Fell Stinger 'mon. All joking aside, there are a lot of good weaker moves and while I'm not a fan of the "make this move work" style concepts in general, I do like the idea of a Pokemon centred around a variety of weaker moves, in some respect, and I can see a fair window for discussion on how this could be achieved. I wouldn't say it's my favourite of the bunch but it certainly has my attention, provided that it is specified that this is many low-power moves, not just a single one to be decided later.

TorterraX (Predictable Me?) - I do actually like this one, and I disagree with DLC that it is impossible to pull off. Stop me if I have misunderstood your concept, but it seems to me that, rather than this being a generic lure Pokemon, this is one that possesses a number of attacks that can be used repeatedly to little effect and places the expectation in the opponent's mind that the Pokemon will continue to do the same, then when it changes the pattern it is unexpected, rather like Rotom-W suddenly switching from Volt Switch to Hydro Pump to catch out something. My gripe here is that it may be hard to create a Pokemon where this tactic is both consistently successful and also better than the alternatives of just continuing to do what it was doing previously - Rotom-W, for example, doesn't tend to spam Volt Switch as its every single move as far as I am aware.

Qwilphish (Not Vary Riksy) - I'm intrigued by the idea of "little risk to put on a team" because that certainly doesn't seem to be something that exists at present - as far as opportunity cost is concerned, the only things that have no risk to being put on a team would be those that are exceptionally good on any team, as you say. Yet, in this case, the low risk is intrinsically connected to the high reward output - if it wasn't low-risk, the returns would not be perceived as so great. An offensive Pokemon, then, in this case tends to be judged by how often it succeeds, and as such, if a Pokemon fails more often than not, its perceived risk increases. Because of this, I feel that this could only be accomplished through a defensive or support Pokemon that pushes a single job of middling returns but which is consistently useful and hard to stop doing its job. Even so, I'd be happy to be proven wrong on that last point.

TheTraininator (The Pacifist) - White Mage Girls are fun, and this concept is fun. A Pokemon that is entirely given to supporting its team would certainly be an interesting end product and one that I'm sure we'd all enjoy making. More importantly, it's something that doesn't really exist at present and gives us an excuse to think a bit more about the nature of support and how it can be made consistently viable. I'd want to ask, would moves such as Toxic and Will-O-Wisp be considered as eligible on such a Pokemon? I would have imagined not, but I'm not certain of your thoughts on this.

Lasagne (Parting Shot Pivot) - As a general rule I am given to loathe concepts centring around a single move, as I mentioned earlier. Even so, I like this concept because Parting Shot, as a move, absolutely fascinates me. It's a pivot, and it's making use of a move that essentially guarantees a free switch (or relatively free switch) for its teammate at the expense of not damaging the Pokemon that comes in. I can't help but feel excited about what could potentially be done with a move that, really, simply has no way of ever seeing light in OU otherwise.

Agile Turtle (Pivot Predator) - Zzz anti-pivot concepts. We've had a lot of them, but they seem to be exceptionally popular this CAP for some reason. No idea why. As DLC mentioned, the problem with such a concept is that there is a real difficulty in implementation, since there's no real way to actually threaten all of the various different OU switchers - at least one will have some means to fight back, and the very concept of pivoting prevents them from being trapped by any traditional means. As far as this particular concept goes, I like it better than some of the others because it focuses a tad more on the momentum aspect, in that being able to win back momentum even given, or especially in, the presence of a pivot unit would be an interesting way of bypassing the "all-encompassing counter" problem. I can think of a few ways this could be done.

wh0sy0urpapa (Banned for Spam) - Again, similarly to the above, "easily spammable moves" have a diverse array of users and it would be next to impossible to create a Pokemon capable of taking them all on at the same time. On the other hand, hey, if a means could be found it would be an immensely fun concept to try out, and the discussions it could provoke would probably be worth the time. So yeah, including this one for discussion, not entirely convinced it's feasible. You should really provide some examples of how you would go about approaching this concept in the "Explanation" section, since at present it seems cluttered with a treatise on how nice such a Pokemon, if it existed, would be good for the metagame, which is nice but does not address the biggest hole in the argument. If you can address this I'd be much more inclined to support it.

To be honest, I've never been good at coming up with names. And I had a hard time describing my concept concisely without using the term outclassed, so hm :T

I like DetroitLolcat's term, "Robin", but wasn't sure if that fit under "the concept is not intuitively obvious in the name."

Thanks for your comments and DetroitLolcat's comments though! I added a small sentence about potentially pairing with the original Mega to overwhelm the opposition.

Edit: Although now my concept seems a tad bit redundant with Clankenator007's earlier "onslaught" concept as DetroitLolcat noted - the motivating ideas being different, but the implementation very similar.

Edit2: Changed the name to "Less is More."

 

[Galladium]

This is my first CAP suggestion, and one of my first posts, so please don't laugh too hard if you think it's a stupid idea.

Name: Offensive but Entry hazard Immune

General Description: An offensive Pokemon that is immune to, or would take little damage from entry hazards.

Justification: Entry hazards have been a huge part of the metagame ever since Gen IV, and as such many Pokemon, due to their ability or typing, are either immune to entry hazards or they take little damage from them. However, there has yet to be (with the exception of non-Mega evolved Alakazam and Reuniclus, which requires Trick Room support) an offensive Pokemon with these capabilities. As you probably know, quite a few offensive Pokemon (such as Charizard and Volcarona) have lost some a lot of their usefulness because they are weak to entry hazards. A offensive, entry hazard immune/resistant Pokemon would enable us to learn more about the importance/usefulness of entry hazards in OU, as well as how much of a strength it would be for offensive Pokemon to take little or no damage from entry hazards.


Questions To Be Answered:

• How important are entry hazards in the current metagame?
• Would it be possible for an offensive Pokemon to be immune to entry hazards without being broken?
• Has the advent of Sticky Web changed how entry hazards are now handled/utilised?
• How much of a problem are entry hazards for offensive Pokemon generally?
• How would Stall teams be affected, as they are reliant on entry hazards for damage?

Explanation: Although Magic Guard is an ability that prevents damage from entry hazards, the move Sticky Web has been introduced this gen, which all Magic Guard users (except Sigilyph) are susceptible to. What's more, almost all of the Pokemon that do have this ability are generally used defensively, apart from Alakam, who's commonly-used Mega doesn't have it, and Reuniclus, who requires the use of Trick Room. There are Pokemon with Levitate, but most take neutral damage from Stealth Rock. So, in a nutshell, there are few Pokemon who are both offensively capable and resistant to entry hazards.

Also, as I've already mentioned, there are also offensively-orientated Pokemon who have not seen as much use because of their weakness to entry hazards, like Articuno, or virtually every Fire-Flying type. Entry hazards are also a must for Stall teams, who mostly rely on them for damage, which I guess would make this Pokemon a stallbreaker.

So, that's my CAP suggestion. Please tell me what you think of it, as this is my first contribution I'd welcome any feedback.

 

[Bughouse]

I have edited in considerably more explanation to my concept, as per DetroitLolcat's comments. I look forward to seeing the slate he'll come up with to get this show on the road. We've got a good crop of concept submissions.

Here are some of my highlights:

Dummy007's Major Third - I feel this is the best of all the concepts that focus on "glue/pivots/cores," as a general concept. Perfect Mate was a great concept back in BW and I feel this is a natural progression of difficulty and interest.

The Pizza Man's Nostalgic Playstyle - It's a lot like mine in choosing to look back and revive something bygone. Where mine is more focused and detailed on BW, The Pizza Man's is more open-ended, leaving more to be decided by the community in discussion. Really just a matter of preference there of how much guidance a concept should provide.

DarkSlay's Swiss Army Knife - This hits on an important aspect of XY as compared to BW that I didn't really focus in on myself because I feel his concept does it better. Put simply, the most diverse Pokemon of BW either aren't particularly used in XY or if they are, their versatility has plummeted. The metagame at this point is incredibly diverse in terms of which Pokemon are being used. But the team roles each plays tend to be pretty set in stone. There are some exceptions, such as Landorus-T or Clefable who might be a physically defensive tank/choice scarfer or a check to set-up sweepers/stallbreaker. But the majority of Pokemon tend to be pretty one-sided even across their various sets. How to make something capable of being diverse in terms of team role but also keep it from being clearly better at any one thing is a very interesting problem.

Too Much Sugar's Scarf is Not Dead - Choice Scarf isn't getting used very much anymore for a number of reasons. In general, this would probably indicate it's not a good item anymore, but that seems absurd given its unique and game-changing effect. This concept would ask us to examine what factors of the metagame are keeping Choice Scarf usage down and how a CAP could be built that shrugs off those issues. I personally interpret the concept as having the goal be a Pokemon who is viable in OU exclusively because of Choice Scarf (and bluff-Scarf) sets, which is intriguing, if it's apparently not a good item anymore.

Deck Knight's Decentralizer 2.0 - When all else fails, why not go with a proven winner? I'm confident we'd have a great project.

 

[Panda12435]

Name: The Last Fighter

General Description: A Pokemon effectively can be your last, and also takes advantage of the fact that it is your last pokemon

Justification: This Pokemon can have a positive affect on the meta-game, as it shows most people, that even though the score is 6-1, it still isn't over yet. It makes it so that people will never assume that the game is over yet, as I've seen people do to me. It allows us to explore the weaknesses in the opponents team and then counter them (which is this Pokemon's main job). This Pokemon also gives the player a fighting chance, and with the typing system, you know that 1 Pokemon cannot counter everything in the meta-game.
Questions To Be Answered: (See rules below.)

• Can the last Pokemon on a turn bring down an entire team?
• How many people will rely on just 1 Pokemon?
• How many people will assume it's over at the 6-1 point.
• How can the strategy of any Pokemon defeat an entire team?
• Can a pokemon like this change the way we play the meta-game completely?

Explanation: From what I've seen in the gen 6 OU meta-game, many people, once lost their main sweepers or tanks, start to think it's all over now. That's why I think this Pokemon would be a key to a match in this situation. It works with the disadvantage of being last pokemon out and turns it into an advantage to give it that little boost needed to win it.

(First CAP also, I'm sure ones in the future will be much better than this)

 

[paintseagull]

I've closed this up, just waiting on DLC to make his slate now, hold tight everyone :)

 

[DetroitLolcat]

I totally didn't oversleep I don't know what you're talking about.

All right, after six days of concept submissions it's time for the first slate of CAP 18. I've attempted to maximize the range of ideas represented in this slate. There are specific concepts that deal with one or two untapped moves, there are concepts that deal with various aspects of the current metagame such as pivots and cores, and there are extremely general concepts that deal with less tangible elements of Pokemon. There are concepts that deal specifically with Gen VI OU, there are concepts that deal with Gen VI as a whole, and there are concepts that transcend metagames and generations. The polls will be the battleground of ideas, the place where we all decide Generation VI CAP's first objective. Should we explore a move with plenty of potential, or should we explore ideas common to every iteration of the game of Pokemon? Should we create a new role for a Pokemon, import an archetype from a different metagame into Gen VI OU, or study cores of Pokemon? That's what the next two days of the project are for, and these are the concepts which I believe best combine diversity of opinion with poignant questions and insightful explanation. Here they are!

Dummy007's Major Third

TRC.'s Why So Slow

Birkal's Fully Uncompetitive

capefeather's Hunting Beast

Lasagne's Parting Shot Pivot

srk1214's BWack to the Future

Clankenator007's Onslaught

Too Much Sugar's Scarf is Not Dead



Dummy007's Major Third was one of the most popular and promising concepts dealing with team cores. We've already made a CAP dealing with team cores in the fourth Generation, and it ended up wildly successful. Furthermore, this concept's increased complexity compared to Perfect Mate's would propose a significant challenge to our community.

TRC's Why So Slow deals with one of the most threatening yet nearly unseen move in Pokemon: Sticky Web. There has been massive outcry to study this move, and TRC.'s Why So Slow would allow us to do so.

There isn't a more polarizing and discussion-sparking concept on here than Birkal's Fully Uncompetitive. This forum and #cap cannot stop talking about this concept, and it's created more ardent fans and detractors than I can count. This concept promises to teach us something applicable to both Gen VI OU and to Pokemon as a whole, and is likely the broadest concept posted in this thread. It's definitely the broadest concept on this slate.

Capefeather's Hunting Beast takes “creating a role” to a new level. There were many “role creator” concept posted such as Deck Knight's Mega Buster and ganj4lF's Revenge Killer 6.0, but Hunting Beast takes concepts like that and adds a new dimension. Not only would we get to determine just how many Pokemon we need to counter to make a useful “one for one” Pokemon, we'd also get to spend our time actually countering those Pokemon!

Lasagne's Parting Shot Pivot combines taking an unappreciated move and studying a Pokemon's role in the metagame. Parting Shot, Knock Off, and Sticky Web are the three most talked-about moves this generation, and I wanted to get at least two of those onto the slate. Parting Shot Pivot comes with the added bonus of using one of those three moves to study pivots, one of the most popular ideas in the thread.

srk1214's BWack to the Future is the most interesting and well-explained “reviving an old strategy” concept. It was difficult deciding between this one and dragonblaze052's Redemption, but I ended up choosing BWack to the Future because of the detail paid to specific roles in this concept's Explanation. Many users have voiced their favor towards reviving a fun aspect of a previous metagame, and this concept will allow us to do so.

Clankenator007's Onslaught would teach us about modern offensive playstyles. Onslaught cores are much less common in Gen VI OU, in large part because of the emergence of the Flying-type, the rule about one Mega Pokemon per team (no Charizard+Pinsir cores!), and the drawbacks of stacking Stealth Rock-weak Pokemon on a team. Onslaught reminded me of ohgeedubs' Outclassed concept, but Onslaught's increased scope made it a more favorable option.

Too Much Sugar's Scarf Is Not Dead is one of the most popular and well-explained item-based concepts in the thread. I was skepical of this concept at first, but it's really taken off on IRC and I see the merit of it. Choice Scarf has defintely fallen by the wayside; players just don't think “oh, this Pokemon's obviously scarfed, now I can't sweep” anymore. Sweepers fear the opponent's priority user, not their Scarfer anymore. We could learn a lot designing the ultimate Choice Scarfer for this metagame.

Before I conclude this post, I'd like to say that there were dozens of concepts that would make for excellent Pokemon that I could not include in the slate. It's not because of the fault in your concepts, but rather that there just isn't enough room on the slate for every great idea. Often, two or more well-thought-out concepts were so similar to each other but so different from the rest that exactly one of them should be slated. Although every concept is different from the next, many concepts can be lumped together in the same "category", and one of my goals was to draw from as many "categories" as possible. Concepts such as Deck Knight's Mega Buster (Decentralizer 2.0), Dragonblaze052's Redemption and The Pizza Man's Nostalgic Playstyle would have made just about any other slate if the above concepts weren't posted and the limit wasn't 8.



So, yes. Onwards!