Outside of Rest, Malaconda has no move that can reliably recover HP (hence the ChestoRest or Sitrus). Halving damage from a glaring 4x weakness is awesome, sure, but gaining that HP back will make him last much longer than with a Tanga Berry. Keeping Rest and running Tanga Berry would probably lead to the use of Sleep Talk - and at that point you've used up two move slots just for a 50% chance every turn to (re)gain a berry that reduces a 4x weakness to a 2x weakness, effectively.
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Potential sets for underused Pokemon in the CAP metagame
- Thread starter Vryheid
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While this thread is for "underused CAPmons", I see no issue with talking about underused threats in the CAP metagame in this thread as well. After all, that is kind of the point with these kinds of threads: to promote the metagame. With that in mind, I have a unique Mega Evolution that many people may not have on their radar (which is a shame, really) and a Pokemon that has often been underrated no matter what tier it's battling in:
Special Sweeper
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire [Solar Power]
Nature: Timid / Naive
EV's: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Sunny Day / Destiny Bond / Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Solar Beam / Hidden Power [Ice / Ground] / Sucker Punch
So, for those who may not be familiar with Mega Houndoom, here are its stats: 70 HP / 90 Atk / 90 Def / 140 SpA / 90 SpD / 115 Speed. 140 Special Attack and 115 Speed in the CAP metagame is outstanding. The ability to out-pace things such as Thundurus-I, Kitsunoh, Lati@s, and others and hit for massive damage is great. Having more Special Attack than a wide majority of the metagame, including CAPs, is pretty great too. Fire / Dark coverage is still extremely good, being resisted only by Tyranitar, Arghonaut, Keldeo, Mega Gyarados, Infernape/Emboar, and opposing Houndoom. Furthermore, Solar Panel with Sun support allows Mega Houndoom to strike quickly and efficiently, with its Fire Blasts being able to break through almost any Pokemon that isn't immune to it. It also has a small, yet versatile, arrangement of boosting and support moves that can make it customizable for different variants of offensive teams. It does compete with Mega Charizard Y for a spot on teams, but its Speed, Dark typing and overall damage output sets it apart from Char-Y in the long run, allowing it to play an effective late-game role and hole puncher.
Sunny Day may seem like an odd choice on a Heat Rock-less and/or Drought-less Pokemon, but it allows Mega Houndoom to give itself a way to naturally produce a Sun boost while providing Sun support for basic and Sun-based teams. Sun provides multiple large and small benefits for Mega Houndoom, including Solar Panel boosts, additional Fire Blast boost, cushion against Water-type attacks (especially Aqua Jet), Sand Stream elimination (when timed correctly) and Solar Beam activation. Fire Blast should be the first go-to option for Mega Houndoom at all times, once 4x resists and Flash Fire Pokemon have been eliminated. Here's some fun calcs to look at to further my point:
The last move is dependent on either what your first move selection is or what Houndoom needs to beat for your team. Solar Beam is near mandatory with any amount of Sun support, as it allows you to blow through common switch-ins almost instantly. Hidden Power is a good alternative if you're not running Sun outright. HP Ice is for 4x weak targets that resist Fire, including Garchomp and Dragonite, as well as things like Landorus-I/T. HP Ground is for Heatran and Mollux specifically, although it practically needs a boost to guarantee the OHKO on these targets. Sucker Punch seems an odd choice on a fast Special attacker, but priority is always useful and Base 90 is at least usable, so it works to prevent something from revenge killing Houndoom. Giving up typing coverage is a bit of a risk, however. 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe with a Naive nature is preferred here if you go with this route.
Support Cleric
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
EV's: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Moveset:
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Heal Bell / Toxic
Less of an original set and more of an underrated "golden oldie", Vaporeon provides teams with an oddly rare Water typing in the tier and a Wish cleric that has the ability to pass huge Wishes while threatening opponents with both Water STAB and status support. Water typing is excellent offensively in the tier, with top threats like Colossoil, Landorus-I, and others having weaknesses, while the defensive side of Water allows it to switch into the strong Fire and Water moves commonly thrown around. Sylveon is often chosen over Vaporeon due to the ability to better handle Tomohawk and the Dark-types in the tier, but Vaporeon is not as easily pidgeonholed as its Fairy cousin thanks to its unique STAB offensive option.
Wish and Protect go together like chocolate and peanut butter, so not much explanation is needed. Protect is also used to garner as much Lefties recovery as possible - with Vaporeon, thanks to its great overall defenses, that extra 6% recovery could mean the difference between a successful Wish and fainting. Scald is a stupidly good move (unsurprisingly). It's extremely hard to switch in to Vaporeon unless you're Chansey thanks to the 30% Burn chance and high PP count of Scald. Heal Bell provides status removal for the whole team while giving Vaporeon a tool to beat stall-based teams in 1 V 1 situations (it does not like Toxic). Toxic can be used over Heal Bell to cripple switch-ins that may not mind Burn or are better dealt with by cumulative status damage, like Tomohawk.
Special Sweeper
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire [Solar Power]
Nature: Timid / Naive
EV's: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Sunny Day / Destiny Bond / Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Solar Beam / Hidden Power [Ice / Ground] / Sucker Punch
So, for those who may not be familiar with Mega Houndoom, here are its stats: 70 HP / 90 Atk / 90 Def / 140 SpA / 90 SpD / 115 Speed. 140 Special Attack and 115 Speed in the CAP metagame is outstanding. The ability to out-pace things such as Thundurus-I, Kitsunoh, Lati@s, and others and hit for massive damage is great. Having more Special Attack than a wide majority of the metagame, including CAPs, is pretty great too. Fire / Dark coverage is still extremely good, being resisted only by Tyranitar, Arghonaut, Keldeo, Mega Gyarados, Infernape/Emboar, and opposing Houndoom. Furthermore, Solar Panel with Sun support allows Mega Houndoom to strike quickly and efficiently, with its Fire Blasts being able to break through almost any Pokemon that isn't immune to it. It also has a small, yet versatile, arrangement of boosting and support moves that can make it customizable for different variants of offensive teams. It does compete with Mega Charizard Y for a spot on teams, but its Speed, Dark typing and overall damage output sets it apart from Char-Y in the long run, allowing it to play an effective late-game role and hole puncher.
Sunny Day may seem like an odd choice on a Heat Rock-less and/or Drought-less Pokemon, but it allows Mega Houndoom to give itself a way to naturally produce a Sun boost while providing Sun support for basic and Sun-based teams. Sun provides multiple large and small benefits for Mega Houndoom, including Solar Panel boosts, additional Fire Blast boost, cushion against Water-type attacks (especially Aqua Jet), Sand Stream elimination (when timed correctly) and Solar Beam activation. Fire Blast should be the first go-to option for Mega Houndoom at all times, once 4x resists and Flash Fire Pokemon have been eliminated. Here's some fun calcs to look at to further my point:
There's a good number more, but that should demonstrate its power well enough. Destiny Bond is an interesting alternative to Sunny Day, especially with Drought support, as it still can function as a powerful Special Attacker while having the capacity to take down something before it faints. Nasty Plot allows it to sweep without Sun support (and Solar Panel damage) while providing a greater boost to Dark Pulse and its coverage move compared to Solar Panel, but it cannot use Solar Beam as a coverage move, which is very unfortunate. Dark Pulse is additional STAB coverage that can hit things that are weak to it harder than Fire Blast (but that's about it, really, as Fire Blast is /that/ powerful).
The last move is dependent on either what your first move selection is or what Houndoom needs to beat for your team. Solar Beam is near mandatory with any amount of Sun support, as it allows you to blow through common switch-ins almost instantly. Hidden Power is a good alternative if you're not running Sun outright. HP Ice is for 4x weak targets that resist Fire, including Garchomp and Dragonite, as well as things like Landorus-I/T. HP Ground is for Heatran and Mollux specifically, although it practically needs a boost to guarantee the OHKO on these targets. Sucker Punch seems an odd choice on a fast Special attacker, but priority is always useful and Base 90 is at least usable, so it works to prevent something from revenge killing Houndoom. Giving up typing coverage is a bit of a risk, however. 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe with a Naive nature is preferred here if you go with this route.
Support Cleric
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
EV's: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Moveset:
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Heal Bell / Toxic
Less of an original set and more of an underrated "golden oldie", Vaporeon provides teams with an oddly rare Water typing in the tier and a Wish cleric that has the ability to pass huge Wishes while threatening opponents with both Water STAB and status support. Water typing is excellent offensively in the tier, with top threats like Colossoil, Landorus-I, and others having weaknesses, while the defensive side of Water allows it to switch into the strong Fire and Water moves commonly thrown around. Sylveon is often chosen over Vaporeon due to the ability to better handle Tomohawk and the Dark-types in the tier, but Vaporeon is not as easily pidgeonholed as its Fairy cousin thanks to its unique STAB offensive option.
Wish and Protect go together like chocolate and peanut butter, so not much explanation is needed. Protect is also used to garner as much Lefties recovery as possible - with Vaporeon, thanks to its great overall defenses, that extra 6% recovery could mean the difference between a successful Wish and fainting. Scald is a stupidly good move (unsurprisingly). It's extremely hard to switch in to Vaporeon unless you're Chansey thanks to the 30% Burn chance and high PP count of Scald. Heal Bell provides status removal for the whole team while giving Vaporeon a tool to beat stall-based teams in 1 V 1 situations (it does not like Toxic). Toxic can be used over Heal Bell to cripple switch-ins that may not mind Burn or are better dealt with by cumulative status damage, like Tomohawk.
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The Ability is called "Solar Power," not "Solar Panel". Corrections aside, I don't see what could go wrong with discussing official Pokemon that happen to be underused, but still viable, threats in the CAP metagame.
While I don't acutally play myself, DarkSlay's analysis of Houndoom-Mega seems pretty useful.
While I don't acutally play myself, DarkSlay's analysis of Houndoom-Mega seems pretty useful.
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