CAP 36 - Part 3 - Typing Discussion

[Guingil]

Fighting/Poison > Fighting/Dark
CAP Song Type: Fighting

TLDR:
​

• Defensive forme can check counters of cleaner throughout the battle, helping itself​
• Fantastic 3 type coverage, CAP song can function as bait for moves of the other types​
• Two possible ways to provide utility with damaging moves (progress + status spread) to address 4MSS, in addition to pure utility options​
• Good defensive matchups against chip/progress moves, rocks resistant, forme change transforms 4x weakness to immunity​

Dark has some of the best and most unique dual-purpose utility moves in Pokemon—Knock Off, Ceaseless Blade, even more niche stuff like Jaw Lock or Throat Chop see some use. Since we want some broad utility with CAP36’s base forme and a spammable cleaning option in the cleaner forme, Dark moves are a very attractive option here. Dark/Fighting is a great offensive combination, or at least it used to be until Fairy types were introduced. Poison is a fantastic option to address this on the more defensive base form, which can constantly check Fairies throughout the battle. Most damaging Poison moves also spread status, thus achieving our utility goals in an additional way. If required, both Dark and Poison have good pure utility options as well. The three types combined are only resisted by, ironically enough, Poison/Fighting itself. Among current CAP mons, this gives CAP36 good offensive matchups against Equilibra, Kitsunoh, Cresceidon, Hemogoblin, Miasmaw, Colossoil, Shox, and Caribolt.

Fighting might seem like a risky type for CAP Song given that Ghost is immune to it, and the ever-present Fairies are resistant to it. But this can be used as bait, as these counters have bad matchups against the Dark and Poison type moves in our mon’s arsenal which are intended to make progress anyway.

Defensively, CAP36 wants to preserve some of its health till the endgame during which it can transform and sweep, and giving it a healing move is not easy because of 4MSS. Its best opportunities to switch in would be against chip or progress-making moves. Poison/Fighting has fantastic defensive matchups against Dark (Knock Off) and Bug (U-Turn, .25x), the most common ways of doing so. It is also resistant to rocks, giving it more opportunities to switch in. Fighting and Poison resistances are generally useful in the current meta, while Grass could also be useful against certain mons. The forme change transforms the 4x Psychic weakness into an immunity. The two formes share only Flying as a common weakness, which is a type normally not seen as coverage.

The cleaner also has good matchups against other fast cleaners in the tier, like Dragapult, Darkrai, Kitsunoh, while the defensive forme checks PixieSpeed Hemogoblin and Iron Valiant.​

 

[Explosion Badger]

Gonna throw out some ideas I had for typings

Water/Poison => Water/Dark
CAP Song: Water
A good trio of typings with a mix of powerful STABs that have good utility options while also functioning as good coverage for one another. The two typings also manage to have some defensive synergy as well, with Water/Dark threatening any Psychic types trying to switch in on Water/Poison, and Water/Poison dealing with any fairy types that Water/Dark detests.

Fire/Ground => Fire/Flying
OR
Fire/Flying => Fire/Ground
CAP Song: Fire
This one is a bit weird to explain. Essentially, I chose these types because of the good defensive synergy they had, switching into one anothers Ground and Electric weaknesses respectively. The issue comes with where Fire/Ground should be. On the one hand, Fire/Ground is an insane offensive STAB combination that's incredibly reliable, much more so than Fire/Flying. On the other hand, however, having a Fire type sweeper that doesn't mind switching in on rocks is an incredibly useful tool to have.

 

[StarFalcon555]

WIP

Base Type: Dark/Steel
Pirouette Type: Dark/Water
CAP Song Type: Dark

Genuinely surprised I haven't seen Dark/Steel submitted yet since it's been hella hyped up in the Discord, so I figured I might as well be the one to bite the bullet. Dark/Steel is, to put it mildly, an absolutely fucking nutty defensive typing. The 4x weaknesses to Fighting sucks, as do the weaknesses to Ground and Fire, but in exchange for those common weaknesses you get a whopping NINE resistances and two immunities. These resistances and immunities allow it to match up really well into the metagame, walling top tier threats like Dragapult, Kyurem (if not running EP or some form of Tera Blast), Gholdengo (if not running Focus Blast), Chuggalong, and Galarian Slowking. It also gives us security against quite a few things that could act as threats to our longevity, namely an immunity to being poisoned as well as resistances to Stealth Rock and Knock Off. Dark in general is also a really good utility typing - of course Knock Off is the stand out here, but there are quite a plethora of options to choose from, such as Ceaseless Edge, Jaw Lock, or even status moves like Taunt or Parting Shot. Dark doesn't really have any stand out offensive moves though - in fact, the only damaging Dark type move with a BP in the triple digits is Hyperspace Fury, which is a legendary signature - so I don't think there's any risk of our CAP Song being overshadowed.

Dark/Water, on the other hand, is just a genuinely underrated type for our offensive form in general. Battle Bond Greninja in SV UU was my main inspiration here, as it's fantastic example of a late-game cleaner - hard to get in due to its fragility and need to score a KO to reach its full potential, but if set up properly, it can blow holes through weakened teams. Water also has fantastic synergy with Steel as a complimentary type. The Ground and Fire types that Dark/Steel struggles to deal with are perfectly handled by a Dark/Water type, including the ever-threatening Great Tusk and Hemogoblin. Water also has some great utility options of its own that even the base form can take good advantage of. There's been a lot of talk in the Discord about other status-causing damaging moves to provide our base form with utility, including Scald, which works perfectly with this typing.

 

[a fairy]

Steel/Grass -> Steel/Fighting
Cap Song: Steel

An infamous defensive type combo at the start, the type of Ferrothon the devil, transitioning into a more offensive counterpart in Fighting/Steel, a type combination with no single-type resistance and only a few dozen Pokemon that genuinely resist the combination. While Grass is maybe not seen as traditionally a strong defensive type, CAP36 would only have two weaknesses that are pretty telegraphed and are not particularly common coverage options, while the offensive typing is well known in 'mons like Lucario and Cobalion while maintaining a strong type coverage range.

In my mind, our CAP uses its 10 resistances and 6 neutralities to common types like Electric, Dragon, Fairy, and Water to get in successfully on moves like Volt Switch, Outrage, Moonblast, and Wave Crash, while also taking a minor amount of damage from Stealth Rock. From there, it can lay the seeds of its own sweep later on, in whatever means we choose to do so. Ferrothorn, its typing godfather, is perhaps the king in previous generations of preparing the battlefield for sweeps, between hazards and Leech Seed and a respecful damage output. Steel-types like Corviknight, Gholdengo, and Heatran have all in their own ways shown ability to be nuiscances for opponents, necessitating serious effort and investment to neutralize or eliminate them. While none of these Pokemon themselves are sweepers traditionally, they're all reasonably capable of preparing the table for a nice dinner and then the sweep up afterwards.

Once it's ready to deal damage, a Steel-typed CAP Song can deal decent STAB damage to about 2/3rds of the Pokedex, and then the Fighting-type opens up in partner with Steel to hit nearly every Pokemon for at least neutral damage, with plenty taking SE. Fighting type is perhaps one of the traditional sweeper types, with its Hall of Fame including 'mons like Iron Valiant, Megas Medicham and Lopunny, Terrakion, and Zamazenta each using their Fighting-type in part to put the final nails in the coffin at the end of a battle with powerful STAB options. This is the type that gave us Close Combat, Focus Blast, Body Press, and Collision Course. Steel is no slouch offensively as well,though we tend to remember it for more defensive reasons - Mega Metagross, Excadrill, and Kingambit may not always make use of their Steel-type STABs to sweep, but they are certainly not to be discounted. Admittedly, when it comes to moves, it's harder to find stuff - Iron Head? Meteor Mash? There are some exclusives like Make It Rain or Behemoth Bash/Blade, but... But hey, that's what we've got CAP Song for...?

 

[Pipotchi]

Fairy/Fighting-> Fairy/Electric
Song type: Fairy

So Fairy/Fighting is pretty tied to Iron Valiant, an offensive monster right now, but I genuinely think it has value as a strong defensive typing. Fairy is a great neutral defensive typing, and Fighting has very specific counters in Psychic and Flying that are almost never not-STAB. For this reason, this mon can act similarly to a SR-resistant Pure Fairy in a number of matchups, granting it a better typing than mons like Tinkaton into Ground-types like Tusk and Ting-Lu, and a better matchup into mons like Rilla/Meow than Cresceidon. We can definitely make this a much tankier mon than Clefable, which will give it a lot of defensive purpose even without Magic Guard. Its Fighting typing also gives it a U-turn resistance and is one of the few typings that can handle repeat hits from Lokix, doubly resisting all of its moves. Importantly, having a Fighting STAB means that Libra doesn't come in for free and force us out all game (coming off from Shox it'd be nice to not suffer that again) and offers some very interesting move options for both cleaners and tanks.
Fairy is a decent typing for the Relic Song clone, having no immunities and having a fair few super-effective hits in the tier.

Fairy/Electric is great offensive coverage, except for Equilibra, who is both easily worn down and also threatened by our Fighting form. Electric/Fighting is also a tried-and-tested menace when it comes to coverage; both Zeraora and Iron Hands have shown that this is tough offensive coverage to switch in on and has a really good matchup into common CAP walls, many being Flying, Water and Steel type. Transforming into an Electric type to avoid Thunder Wave or Glare paralysis could be a strategy in some cases. Electric can sometimes be a defensive burden as a fixed typing, but I believe that it might be a quite useful typing to switch into. It can shift matchups into threatening Flying types like Venomicon or Zapdos, making them think twice about switching in.
Electric has decent utility moves that can be used non-STAB by the Fairy/Fighting form. It has a nice neutral-or-better matchup into super speedy mons like Iron Val, Zama, Dragapult, and prio moves like Sucker Punch, Ice Shard, Thunderclap and Pixiespeed all being neutral or better.

As far as answers, Glowking, Gholdengo and Pecharunt could both be a challenge for this mon. Glowking's quite hard to wear down, and this is worth considering if we go this route. It could be worth considering being Physical, or doing something else to alleviate that matchup.

edit with the other posts i like

I wanted to post some of the types I think stand out based on:
a) Really good defensive type on the defensive form vs mons in the tier (not just number of resistances/immunities). Im really prioritising this because offensive strength can be improved by coverage
b) The cleaner form's type has good enough defensive matchups into fast things (not Sucker weak, not beaten down by Dragapult, maybe Pixiespeed/Valiant)
c) Has nice utility STABs
d) Can use Relic Song fairly easily

Water/Ground -> Water/Ice: good defensive typing with para "immunity" and killer offensively
Flying/Steel -> Flying/Fire: its hard to pick a flaw here, both types are right and have good synergy on top
Ghost/Dark -> Ghost/Fairy: goes from good spinblocker to strong offensive typing. Has some fears of fastmons so that needs to be considered when building
Fairy/Steel -> Fairy/Ground: Fairy/Steel is a goat defensive type which gives us a good head start
Steel/Grass -> Steel/Fighting: not really packed with utility stabs but strong in all other ways
Water/Ground -> Water/Poison: its similar to the water/ice one but water/poison is less "sharp" and offers poison as a utility stab

the reason why i dont vibe with the others is mainly due to a mid defensive typing on the defensive form

 

[Scepticskep]

Water/Ground -> Water/Poison
CAP Song: Water

Two incredible Water dual-types combine to create an incredible tag team, with the bulky Ground form breaking through threats for the Poison form to clean up.

Water/Ground is an elite defensive combination. Outside of its singular weakness, it has some incredible synergy, being a Water type immune to Electric, and a Ground type neutral to Ice and Water. Alongside it's resistance to rocks and paralysis immunity, it enables this mon to switch in at multiple opportunities. It also has pretty great offensive capabilities: hitting the majority of mons in the S - A- rankings SE with its stab, notably being able to hit Equilibra as a Ground Type and Mollux as a Water type. It's typing matches well into breakers like Gholdengo, resisting its strongest stab and being immune to T-Wave. Grass types are a threat, but are A. easily switched into, and B. can be dealt with in our cleaner form thanks to the Poison typing.

Water/Poison is also known to be an excellent defensive typing as well, with 8 great resistances (especially Fighting, Water, Fire, Fairy, and Ice). In comparison to Water/Ground, the neutralities to Ice and Water become resistances, and it's 4x weakness to Grass becomes a neutrality. It in turn regains a weakness to Electric alongside Ground. However, Water/Poison's offensive capabilities are perhaps its most underrated aspect: it hits Fire, Fairy, and Ground supereffectively, and lacks any monotype resistance. It's ability to handle Grounds as a Poison type and Grass as a Water Type cement its offensive prowess. It also resists/neutral to most priority options in the meta, strengthening its ability to clean. Water, Ground, and Poison together make an unresisted STAB combination.

What this combination excels in is how well its first typing can break through for the second: its first form is able to hit Electric and Grounds SE, enabling the cleaner form to be less threatened upon transformation. Mollux and Ogerpon-Wellspring both have immunities to prevent CAP song from procing, the former being dealt with easily with Ground stab and the latter being more difficult to deal with but being threatened by the Poison typing in later stages. In it's second form, it can clean through Grass types that stood in the way of the first. Both typings display offensive and defensive potential without stepping on the other's toes.

 

[breadstickslug]

Fairy/Electric -> Fairy/Ice
Song type: Fairy

This typing aims to focus on Ice as the offensive typing of choice, especially as it being only accessed through the transformation means we aren't marred with a Stealth Rock weakness and can minimize exposing its poor defensive matchup spread, while also offering natural (albeit not both STAB simultaneously) BoltBeam coverage.
Defensively, Fairy/Electric has only two weaknesses in Poison and Ground, the latter of which is threatened by Ice and the former at minimum doesn't resist either form's secondary typing. Additionally, spending most of our time as an Electric-type during the "setup" phase protects us from being paralyzed prior to being able to go on the offensive.
Fairy as a choice for the song typing is pretty easy to see, as there are no immunities to it present and Fairy is an excellent offensive type to have on a move we intend to always need to use at least once.
Offensively, having both Electric and Ice moves allows for near-universally unresisted offensive coverage.

 

[Etharia]

Flying/Fire -> Flying/Ghost
CAP song type: Flying
As Moltres proves, Flying and Fire are an excellent defensive combination as long as Heavy-Duty Boots are in the picture, with a solid amount of resistances and only a few weaknesses. Fire provides also provides various utility options, including access to burns which can be used to neuter popular dark types (such as Weavile and Kingambit) that would threaten its later form, as well as generally giving the second form more space to not worry about physical defense as much, freeing up stats.
Flying as the song type has no immunities, and can allow the mon to threaten fighting types it otherwise wouldn't, but doesn't have much in the way of direct power that would require the mon to use its CAP song purely as an attack.
Finally, as an offensive type, Ghost has excellent neutral coverage, being only resisted by a single type in dark (which, as we've covered, the mon has little to fear from physically offensive dark types.) Furthermore, ghost also has access to Hex in particular, which allows it to directly benefit from the status spreading it would be capable of to act as an incredibly potent cleaner.

 

[SunshineFuture]

Dark/Steel => Dark/Fairy
CAP Song Type: Dark

This pair of combos serves a few different functions. First, while the meta is filled with threats that are difficult to fully wall on typing alone, Dark/Steel comes relatively close to doing so for a handful of mons. Specifically, it resists the STABs of Galarian Slowking and Dragapult as well as most of Darkrai’s common moves. The first two have to run Flamethrower (which theoretically could be tanked with enough bulk), and Darkrai has to drop Ice Beam or Sludge Bomb for Focus Blast. More generally, Dark/Steel has a large number of isolated resistances which could be exploited to get CAP36 in. This leads into Dark/Fairy. What’s interesting is how Dark/Steel and Dark/Fairy have no overlapping weaknesses; the former is only weak to Fighting, Ground, and Fire, while the latter is only weak to Fairy, Poison, and Steel. Likewise, Dark/Steel resists or is immune to all of Dark/Fairy’s weaknesses, while Dark/Fairy is neutral to all of Dark/Steel’s. This creates an interesting dynamic between the two forms, creating incentive to not leave CAP Song as a dead slot. Offensively, Dark/Fairy is very strong two-move coverage, with nothing in the metagame resisting both types. This, combined with Dark Pulse only being 5 BP more than CAP Song and Steel really not needing to be run as STAB for the base form, this leaves our other two moveslots relatively open for utility attacks or coverage moves to target specific threats not sufficiently threatened by our STABs. Finally, Dark as a type has Knock Off and Ceaseless Edge as potential STAB utility attacks, although they’d require a usable attack stat to be potent in both forms.

 

[Da Pizza Man]

Base Typing: Grass/Steel => Pirouette Typing: Grass/Fire
CAP Song Type: Grass

Grass/Steel is well known to be a very good defensive typing to pretty much anyone who has played this game since BW thanks to Ferrothorn, and in this metagame, things wouldn't really be any different. With only two weaknesses to its name, both of which are fairly easy to cover with our teammates, and a wide array of resistances that give us plenty of oppurtutnites to switch in on some of the most common pokemon in the metagame (Off the top of my head, Cresceidon, Chuggalong, Slowking-Galar, and non-Superpower Ogerpon-W are all relatively safe switch-ins based off of purely typing), we immediately give ourselves a fairly strong argument for being a fairly strong defensive piece for any team. Our typing also synergizes very well with Alomomola (For reasons I don't really think I need to get into), who I believe will be instrumental into helping alleviate our weakness of really only having three moveslots to work with in this role.

Where this typing may struggle with on paper however, is dealing with other Steel-types, as while it may be able to apply pressure on them depending on what sort of utility we give it access to, to say it would be a consistent answer to them wouldn't really be an accurate assesment. This is where I think the Fire-type really benefits this combination, as it gives it a fairly reliable way of dealing with otherwise would-be Steel-type switchins. In addition, despite having two shared resistances in both Fire and Dragon, the combination of Grass & Fire is suprisingly quite potent, as we have seen with Pyroak in the last couple generations (after the buff of course) and with Ogerpon-Hearthflame this generation (Hell, half the time it didn't even really need coverage before it got banned). This is especially notable in the regard that our typing actively encourages us to switch-in on most Dragon-types in the tier (Raging Bolt and Chuggalong are the most notable examples here), allowing us to reliably weaken them over time to the point that we don't really need to worry about their resistance to our STAB cleaner once CAP36 transforms to take on its role as a cleaner.

 

[kenn]

TYPING SL POST INCOMING!

Okay so there was some discussion in CAPcord about exactly what type has to be shared, whether that be the primary or secondary, and why there was an argument for secondary was for some frankly polljumpy reasons and I am here to set the record straight that the shared typing  MUST be the  primary type of any submission. This is in line with how Meloetta's forme change occurs and avoids having the implications it could have in the future.

 

[dex]

Typing opinions on typings...

pog:
Water/Ground -> Water/Ice: My sub for clarity. I think Water/Ice is a very potent offensive combination, which might not be expected from a Water typing, but there's a reason so many Water-types have run Ice coverage historically. This also helps the base forme get value out of the second forme's STAB. I tried to focus on situations where the first STAB, Ground, would be useful to the sweeping typing, Water/Ice, to reduce move slot strain. I think the defensive benefit of Water/Ground is great, and this typing is one of the more resilient here.

Ghost/Dark -> Ghost/Fairy: Ghost/Dark I actually really believe in as a defensive typing. Ghost is also I think the best type to have the Song latched to, as it doesn't feel that bad to click it once and never again. Fairy is really good offensively because ahem moonblast, and I don't think the typing is particularly beholden to Dark-type STAB on the first form, so there's great 2-move flexibility.

Fairy/Steel -> Fairy/Ground: So this is just generically good into generically good, which is sort of ehhh in my head but it surely works. Fairy/Steel is enough to carry a lot of Pokemon to usage, and it isn't particularly attached to any of its STAB types besides Ground, so there's room to work with there to. Works, just doesn't really excite me in any way.

Steel/Grass -> Steel/Fighting: Steel/Grass has proven gen after gen to be a great defensive typing. Again, both of the STAB moves for the base typing are optional, which is nice for movepool freedom, and this typing. more so than many others I think, could do the funny Fast Body Press mon thing, which is hilarious. I'm a fan.

semipog:
Fire/Steel -> Fire/Ice: I was really high on this one initially, but now I think Fire/Steel just doesn't do enough defensively in the current metagame. Fire/Ice is really incredible offensively, though, and Fire/Steel with Ice coverage would be pretty decent as a tank, so I think it could work.

Ghost/Normal -> Ghost/Fighting: I think the main attraction of this typing is Ghost/Fighting, not Ghost Normal, which I don't really believe in as an outstanding defensive typing. I think Ghost/Normal is for sure workable, but definitely requires big bulk to work. Ghost/Fighting, though, that's a great offensive combination. This combo does have the benefit of probably not running any Normal moves or Ghost moves outside of the Song, which opens up coverage slots pretty well, I just don't think the typing would really want to stay in Ghost/Normal form all that much.

Flying/Steel -> Flying/Fire: I thought about Flying/Steel a lot before typing subs were released, but I struggled to think of how a Flying/Steel mon would both compete with Skarm/Corv and be able to have some kind of offensive presence upon transformation. Another issue is that when you have an offensive Flying-type, you really want to be using Hurricane for the power, and I am suspicious of moveslots there. That said, the typings are both very strong in their respective roles, so I can still see it working, there's just some concern.

Fighting/Poison -> Fighting/Dark: This is essentially giga Okidogi, which is funny. I think the path with this typing would be fully mimicing AV Okidogi, but that doesn't feel as good because Drain Punch is really hard to run here. The coverage of types is good here, but something about it strikes me as awkward. I do think it's workable.

Fairy/Fighting -> Fairy/Electric: I think Fairy/Electric is a pretty good destination point, and it would certainly appreciate the Fighting coverage from the base forme. However, I am somewhat suspicious of Fairy/Fighting as a defensive typing. It blanks some really good mons like Arghonaut and does well into Tusk. But then there's really common stuff like Pecharunt, Zapdos, and Iron Valiant that feast on this typing. I'm just a bit conflicted, but there's enough there to make it work. This is the one from this section I think the most highly of.

Water/Ground -> Water/Poison: I already spoke about why I like Water/Ground, so that's good. Water/Poison is just ok as an offensive pairing, however. This pairing also appreciates the Ground coverage, but would 100% need to rely on more attacks, because poison/ground is not good enough as coverage, so either it's dropping Poison STAB on the second forme (very sad) or taking up its last moveslot with another Water move (Scald, I'd imagine) which leaves little room for the utility or longevity the first forme wants. Workable, but I prefer my submission.

Grass/Steel -> Grass/Fire: I also already spoke about why I like Grass/Steel, so no need to repeat myself there. Grass/Fire is pretty decent offensively, though it needs coverage desperately (which is fine cause you're never running a Steel-type move). I'm a bit suspicious that it won't perform as well as a certain other Grass/Fire because it doesn't have broken Embody Aspect, but the typing is good enough to give me hope for it. I prefer the Steel/Fighting variant of Grass/Steel, though.

Dark/Steel -> Dark/Fairy: Dark/Steel is kind of interesting defensively, and Dark/Fairy is kind of interesting offensively. The typing is very targeted towards the tier's Ghost-types, which is fine, since some of the Ghosts are really good (Pecharunt). Something about Dark/Fairy as a cleaner rubs me the wrong way with Pokemon like Hemogoblin and Iron Moth in the tier, but that's not unplayable by any means. I think I just prefer the Ghost/Dark -> Ghost/Fairy submission.

unpog:
Ground/Flying -> Ground/Ice: I think competing outright with Gliscor is a death sentence. Gliscor essentially completes the concept by itself (it knocks stuff in the early game then sweeps late game with Facade), and it is such a meta-defining Pokemon that I don't think encroaching on its space is a good idea. In a vacuum, this typing works really well. In the context of the metagame, competing with a Pokemon that is not only one of the best in the tier but also inhabits a very similar niche as CAP 36 seems ill-advised.

Water/Poison -> Water/Dark: Water/Poison is a great defensive typing. The issue is that it's not a typing you'll ever want to leave, because Water/Dark is not really what I want to see from the offensive side. A lot of common defensive mons handle this typing combo easily by themselves like Shox and Arghonaut, so I'm just a bit too concerned with the offensive side to like it.

Dark/Steel -> Dark/Water: I don't understand why this typing combination is ordered this way, because it makes way more sense for it to be the other way around. Either way, though, I don't think the coverage works well together, and it seems pretty abusable by common strong attacks.

Fairy/Electric -> Fairy/Ice -> Mono walled by most Steel-types feels incorrect as a Fairy -> Fairy combination. I think Fairy/Electric is decent defensively, but I just don't see the vision by going Fairy/Ice second, because you're losing STAB on your Electric moves for your Ice moves, which doesn't feel great as far as BoltBeam combos go.

Flying/Fire -> Flying/Ghost: This typing combo is really great offensively, good coverage across the board. I just don't think it would want to switch to Ghost/Flying pretty much ever, is my concern. Especially with a tanky build, Fire/Flying is so good by itself, and Ghost is such a bad coverage type, I feel like you'd just want to stay in the first forme and commit.

 

[flying moose]

Flying/Ground —> Flying/Ice
CAP Song type: Flying

Ground/Flying is an excellent base defensive typing as shown by the likes of Landorus-T and Gliscor, notably with neutrality to Stealth Rock and immunity to all other hazards. That’s a dream switch-in scenario for offensive ice Pokemon. Offensively Ice/Ground is an incredible two move coverage combo for our spammable, non-form-changing moves, as seen in Mamoswine. Meanwhile, Flying type song is an easy move to click to transform without fail, yet it also doesn’t mind too much not being able to spam it, being a more situational move to wipe out a few offensive Ice/Ground resists like Syclant and Operpon-Wellspring. The two typings have defensive synergy as well. Switching to the cleaner form turns its glaring 4x Ice weakness and its 2x Water weakness to neutralities. Once in its cleaner form, it can choose to change back to its base to its base to regain immunity to super effective Electric moves (just not Thunderclap from Raging Bolt) and to take neutral damage instead of super effective damage from Rock, Fire, and Steel attacks (especially Rock). In terms of moves, Ice is pretty dedicated to pure damage, and Ground generally is the same but does have utility options such as Scorching Sands.

 

[ausma]

I don't really have any major ideas for type submissions but I really want to take a second to endorse a few submissions.

I really like Ghost/Dark -> Ghost/Fairy and I think it should be slated. Dark/Ghost comes with a lot of meaningful immunities, including one to Rapid Spin which is really huge for a Pokemon that intends to leverage progress to enhance itself as a threat by keeping hazards as a consistent factor. What's more is that having STAB on options like Knock Off pre-transformation as a tool to make pressuring defensive Gholdengo easier, a potential Hex avenue both pre- and post-transformation, and a Relic Song typing that's highly effective as a midground option gives CAP 36 a lot of avenues to transform/make progress while also providing major and unique defensive value to the format.

I'm a fan of Flying/Steel -> Flying/Fire as well. I'm not sure if I like it as much as the former but I think the type dichotomy is really sweet on top of the fact that Flying is a phenomenal typing for our Relic Song clone to be. Being neutral to Stealth Rock pre-transformation is a huge deal as well for an offensive Flying-type, meaning we can reap the offensive and defensive benefits of Flying/Fire without needing to account for Stealth Rock, and we wind up getting a nice Fire-type STAB into Steel-types like Gholdengo and Kingambit. I think the big appeal to me is the Flying-type Relic Song though, especially since I can really see us naturally wanting to weave between forms. In that department this is a great choice, especially since I can see this having a really unique and powerful offensive profile.

 

[SunshineFuture]

Dark/Steel -> Dark/Fairy: Dark/Steel is kind of interesting defensively, and Dark/Fairy is kind of interesting offensively, but both typings feel to me like they fall just a bit short. Dark/Steel has a rough time of it defensively outside of being situationally useful versus certain Pokemon. Dark/Fairy I think is better in its offensive role, but there's quite a few Pokemon this typing hates to see on lead as well. I'd be interested in maybe swapping them? I think the overall power of the typings is there, but I have serious doubts about how they'd stack up in the meta.

As the submitter, I have to somewhat disagree with your analysis here. First of all, while I agree that Dark/Steel does not really wall out many full mons on typing alone, at least from what I’m seeing it’s pretty difficult to fully wall stuff in this meta through typing alone; every major offensive threat is super strong and has coverage out the wazoo. I’ll admit the quad fighting weakness and fairy neutrality aren’t great, but I think its general qualities make up for it and offer a good foundation for future stages. As for Dark/Fairy, I’m not sure if it struggles against “quite a few mons” on lead based on the typing alone. Like, Hemogoblin sucks for us on offense, but other mons like Cresceidon, Iron Valiant, and Venomicon depend on how the rest of the mon gets built. I don’t really get the issues you have with it.

To elaborate further on the submission, I honestly believe Steel STAB would not be necessary to run for this; Dark and Fairy are neutral against everything except Hemogoblin, and that’s not weak to Steel + it blows us up anyway on pure typing. Steel would add… Garganacl to what we can hit super-effectively? That’s kind of it. Yes, Kingambit and Gholdengo use Steel STAB well, but the former is Kingambit and the latter uses Make It Rain, which is not something we presumably will get. I could see why some may want to use it, but I do not think it will be required to make the mon functional. Speaking of Kingambit, I also think it’s worth pointing out that a Dark/Steel CAP36 would still see use even with it in the metagame; Ferrothorn and Kartana in past gens shared a typing and were both physical attackers, but they ultimately did different things. Likewise, Kingambit is a physical sweeper that uses Swords Dance and Supreme Overlord to shred teams. CAP36, meanwhile, would be a special attacker that relies on utility attacks to set itself up and help its team, probably entering the field more than once before the final clean begins. I feel that both could coexist with one another, and any worries to the contrary are unwarranted.

 

[Jomakl]

Steel/Grass -> Steel/Water

Song; Steel

Steel/Grass is a great defensive type as others have said, and allows us to switch in to many mons.
The primary reason for these typing's is to hit both targets that Steel/Grass options can't easily hit; Hemogoblin and Kingambit. For Hemogoblin assuming we're faster, not hard to do, we hit with a neutral STAB and take neutral STAB. This is then obviously followed up by using our water STAB to punish their existence. This hits Kingambit neutrally with water unlike trying to use ground which would be easily counter by flying. Any other attempt at hitting one fails to hit the other unless both are neutral and we lose the Hemo resist.
Steel/Water itself can hit a large amount of mons, many that resist are weak to Grass. Only Caribolt, Raging Bolt and Molux resist (or better) all of our moves.

 

[StarFalcon555]

Dark/Steel -> Dark/Water: I don't understand why this typing combination is ordered this way, because it makes way more sense for it to be the other way around. Either way, though, I don't think the coverage works well together, and it seems pretty abusable by common strong attacks.

Of course I'm really biased here because I was the one who submitted these typings, but I feel like you're underestimating Dark/Steel as a defensive typing and especially underestimating Water as an offensive typing in general. A large part of the reason why Kingambit is as good as it is is because of the defensive utility it provides thanks to its unique typing, using its multitude of resistance and immunities to swap into something it checks, basically guaranteeing a free turn to let it set up an SD by forcing a switch. This type of defensive pressure plays perfectly into the end goal of our concept. And there are so many good Fire and Ground types in the metagame right now - Gliscor, Ting-Lu, Cinderace, Moltres, Iron Moth, Hemogoblin, Equilibra, Landorus-Therian... While it does admittedly suck that we'd have to play a bit carefully around Great Tusk and Garganacl to a lesser extent, the combo of these three typings are so good into the metagame that an Achille's heel is kinda needed.

Also gonna give some my thoughts on some other typing submissions while I'm here :333

Water/Ground -> Water/Poison

Really into Water/Ground... iffy on Water/Poison. The only Grass type that's even remotely threatening in the metagame currently is Ogerpon-W, and the Grass neutrality here still means we take a huge chunk from a boosted Power Whip, and aside from Woger, the only other mons we gain SE damage on with this switch would be Cresceidon, Primarina, and Iron Valiant, which are quite good, but that's still only three Pokemon... Idk I just feel like this would be better switched - Poison is much better as a utility type in this metagame IMO, and while Water/Ground is much better as a defensive typing, Water and Ground are also potent offensive types themselves, so I could see a cleaner Water/Ground working.

Fighting/Poison > Fighting/Dark

Love the type synergy these two have, but Fighting being the CAP Song type does concern me a little. There are a TON of good Ghost types in this metagame, from Dragapult to Kitsunoh to Gholdengo to Pecharunt, and while the synergy with Knock into these is pretty good, I just worry that all of these Ghost types means we'll be whiffing our transformation a fair bit. I could just be overthinking it though :P

Base Typing: Grass/Steel => Pirouette Typing: Grass/Fire

Same issue I have with Water/Ground -> Water/Poison: great defensive typing, not so sure about the offensive typing. As I've mentioned a few times before, Fire types are a common sight in this metagame, and them resisting both of this typing's STAB combinations sucks hardcore, especially when it comes to mons like Iron Moth and Moltres that dual resist our CAP Song. Pyroak and Ogerpon-Hearthflame were both able to circumvent this thanks to the stat boosts that their Abilities provided them (especially true for Hogerpon, as even without Terastallization, Mold Breaker allowed it to turn what would be a perfect counter in Heatran into goop). I think the same would apply to this CAP, especially with the 4MSS put on us by our concept.

Steel/Grass -> Steel/Fighting

Now THIS... THIS is what I'm talking about. This fucks hardcore. My favorite typing submission so far by a landslide. What I really like about these two together is that the defensive profiles of these two are actually pretty similar, meaning that our checks and counters won't really differ between forms, increasing synergy by streamlining our gameplan. My one concern is that we might be a bit more coverage reliant than some other submissions, but considering that both of these typings have proven they don't need to run both STABs to be successful (Ferrothorn and Cobalion being the big examples here), this might actually be one of the easiest type combos to fit coverage on. Cannot praise this one enough.

Dark/Steel => Dark/Fairy

Another typing submission I really like, though I am biased here as a Dark/Steel submitted myself xdd. This trades my submission's ability to handle Ground and Fire types for its Dark/Steel base form for the ability to handle Fighting types, which is still really really solid considering that Fighting types like Great Tusk, Arghonaut, Iron Valiant, and Zamazenta are also pretty common.

Base Typing: Ghost / Dark => Pirouette Typing: Ghost / Fairy

This is basically just Mega Sableye -> Flutter Mane and that is just so fucking funny to me. Seriously though, I really do like these typings. Ghost is a really underrated typing for the CAP Song, and I don't have the same worries about transformation whiffing that I had with the Fighting CAP Song since there is literally only one viable Normal type in the metagame in Shox (technically two if you wanna count Tera Normal Dragonite xdd) I especially like these two since they both aren't weak to Knock Off, the biggest bane of existence of Ghost types. Another one of my personal favorites.

 

[viol and bass]

Water / Flying —> Water / Normal
CAP Song type: Water

Water/Flying is an excellent defensive typing, sitting on ground types like Libra & non-rock move Tusk and Lando, Fighting types like Zamazenta, most fires, most waters, and many steels (it also has a u-turn resist). It's offensively proficient, and specifically uses flying moves to target Wellspring which would otherwise block its transformation (worth noting that if Wellspring teras to lose the flying weakness, it's no longer immune to CAP song), while hitting Mollux neutrally. Its only weaknesses are Electric and Rock, which aren't too common as coverage, so there are a ton of mons you kind of just sit on. A huge portion of the meta just cannot hit you super effectively whatsoever. You have a stealth rock weakness, but the other traits more than make up for this in my opinion.

The thing that may surprise people is how good Water/Normal is offensively. It hits almost everything neutrally, except for Dragapult, Sinistcha, Necturna (all of which are hit neutrally or super effectively by Flying), and a couple unranked mons on the VR. Normal has access to moves like Boomburst which fits quite well on a cleaner (and incentivizes transformation nicely) as well as a few utility options, while Water grants access to moves like Scald if you're able to double your STAB, or otherwise potential high-powered STABs on both sides. Because of how potent Water/Normal STAB is, it may even be an option to drop flying STAB and just run double Water STAB & recovery, etc. Defensively this typing is quite functional too, gaining a ghost immunity and specifically walling Gholdengo’s STABs.

In terms of defensive synergy, Water/Normal turns the Rock weakness into a neutrality, while Water/Flying turns Water/Normal's fighting weakness into a resistance, and its grass weakness into a neutrality.

I think the nice thing about this build in terms of this concept is that because you're mostly hitting things neutrally (although potentially pretty hard) when transformed, you do have to spend some time wearing things down early game. But you absolutely have the tools and the longevity to do so. Bibarel gaming

 

[Amamama]

Water/Flying->Water/Electric
Cap-Song Type: Water
Pro: The base Type is cracked defensively and has really strong offensives spread against common ground type defensive Pokemon.
While it is weak to rocks it’s immune to spikes, which makes it great to come into play late game, when you might not be able to keep the field clear of hazards.

Especially the matchup into ground types is really strong, allowing to come into play repeatedly to soften your own checks.
This gives ample opportunity to set up your own sweep.
That said you will have to compete with other water types for a teamslot (though double water isn’t uncommon either)
The transformation (in both directions also gets rid of any weakness as both types share none, and turning a 4x weakness into a neutrality/2x weakness into an immunity is just a really strong play.

Water backed by flying (which you could still run here) is also pretty good for CAP song as it deters Woger reducing the threat of getting blocked at the wrong time.

Overall this Combo sets up the second form perfectly as it allows its Electric STAB to become more spammable late game to take down bulky mons like Argh, Cresc, Venom or Moltres among others. Water is also still a very Spammable STAB for cleaning especially when you effectively can deal with Water types.

The STAB combination of the cleaner form is also very easy to complete with a single ice type move to hit almost anything for SE damage.

I like the flexibility tto lean into spreading status early with scald and discharge, hit really hard with hydro/Cane/Tbolt or start to clean after hitting a debuff with razor shell (simply ignore physical electric being cringe)

 

[Scepticskep]

Water/Ground -> Water/Poison

Alright, after some reflection on my end, as well as some outside feedback ( ty ausma and StarFalcon555 ), I've concluded that it's more reasonable for this combination to be flipped around.

Base: Water/Poison -> Pirouette: Water/Ground
Cap Song: Water

While Water/Poison certainly has offensive potential in a vacuum, it struggles a lot more as an offensive threat in the CAP meta. Poison hits a relatively small amount of relevant pokemon SE, being Woger, Hemo, Cresc, Valiant and Primarina. While having relatively unresisted STABS is great, cleaners excel at finishing up a game with high SE damage, which would be difficult for a Water/Poison type that's already strained on its Water STAB thanks to CAP Song. Ground, on the other hand, is a much more spammable SE type in the meta, hitting threats like Kitsunoh, Glowking, Chuggalong, Moth, Gambit and many more. This provides more move set flexibility and threat as a cleaner.

Water/Poison's defensive capabilities were already mentioned in my first post, but after some deliberation I've concluded it's definitely the better option for the base form between the two. While Water/Ground has a rocks resistance and only one weakness, Water/Poison has many more significant resistances to Water, Ice, Fairy, and Fighting, three relatively uncommon weaknesses, and an immunity to Toxic. This increases the amount of opportunities CAP 36 can switch in to help prepare its transformation. I mentioned the typings having a Toxic immunity and a T-Wave immunity respectively, and in hindsight, being immune to Toxic is better on a defensive mon for longevity, while a Para Immunity helps prevent an offensive mon from being speed neutered.

Having Poison from the get go makes it a lot easier to face Water Absorb Woger, Grass being a neutrality and Poison STAB threatening it out. Mollux can still just as easily be taken care of w/ Ground. Poison also provides Toxic 100% accuracy, while being able to threaten out Steel types immune to Toxic with Ground attacks. Overall, this version of the combination would have a Water/Poison mon that breaks through Grass types so the Water/Ground cleaner form is safe from 4x effective STAB attacks. The Ground form is able to hit the Electric types that threaten the defensive form, as well as many other mons with STAB/Utility to damage the defensive form (Glowking, Garg, etc.). I can see this pokemon using CAP Song multiple times to play with the unique defensive profile combination of the two typings.

 

[snake]

a snake post in 2025? crazy.

I like Fire/Flying into Fire/Ground. Switching between weaknesses and immunities to opposing Ground and Electric moves is a strong way to take advantage of our transformation. Fire-type Relic Song clone is nice because there are several Fire-type STAB moves that have meaningfully more base power, which means it doesn’t feel as bad to run two Fire-type moves. Additionally, between Fire and Ground coverage, you could feasibly drop Flying-type STAB, which could help free up a valuable moveslot.

While starting as a Fire/Ground type means you could feasibly drop HDB and run some other item, I think starting as Fire/Flying type provides more advantages. Fire/Flying, a more defensive typing, gives CAP36 an easy entry point against Equilibra. This means that the cleaner form has the more offensive Fire/Ground typing, granting it STAB on Ground-type moves on the cleaner form. Also, most Ground-types in the metagame are fairly slow, so our Fire/Ground cleaner form should be able swap back to Fire/Flying form to avoid the incoming damage.

Also, I like the cleaner forms with secondary Ice typing. I don’t have the time to run through all the options right now, but transforming into a Water/Ice, Fire/Ice type, or Fighting/Ice type seem really offensively potent.

 

[ausma]

Flying/Fighting -> Flying/Ghost
CAP Song type: Flying

As I mentioned earlier, I think a Flying-type Relic Song would be really strong for CAP 36. Flying is an immensely spammable offensive typing, but more importantly, is something that can easily help leverage weaving between forms.

Flying/Fighting is an extremely under-explored defensive typing that is packed with meaningful resistances and is hard to take advantage of. For starters, being Dark- resistant while also packing a Fighting-type resistance, Rock-type neutrality, and Ground-type immunity are pretty nice. But, in terms of being a resilient catch-all, this typing is really useful since it's hard to exploit unlike most other Flying type combinations. Clicking Knock Off into it isn't going to give you insane value due to its Stealth Rock neutrality, and it can soak a lot of hits in a very Tornadus-T-esque fashion due to its overall nice neutral matchups. However where this type really shines is in its synergy with Flying-type Relic Song. Being able to take advantage of Kitsunoh and Gholdengo switch-ins with a type conversion into a typing that actually scares them is a big deal. Furthermore, Kingambit isn't going to want anything to do with you because of your Fighting-type STAB; so with that threat factor, you don't trade your Dark-type resistance for a weakness, which makes it far more reliable to click into most of the format's most common Steel-types. Equilibra is the only middling one, but even that's not a big deal since you always have a Ground-type immunity and you'll have a Rapid Spin immunity in case you want to trade some hits with it.

Flying/Ghost as an offensive typing isn't as immediately useful as Flying/Fighting which makes it weird as the post-transformation form on paper, but in practice, having an immunity to common priority moves like Extreme Speed and Vacuum Wave on top of a Grassy Glide resistance make it a flexible typing to clean games with. Ghost offensively is very serious, especially with a potential Hex angle which is extremely pro-concept. Having a high Speed tier with something like this could be potentially very powerful since it's also very hard for a lot of Booster Energy Pokemon (now that Roaring Moon is gone) to immediately threaten it. In other words, Flying/Ghost as the post-transformation typing can have really high offensive reward because of its defensive applications into most speedy Pokemon and the fact that Ghost offensively is so useful as a catch-all.

I believe this combination excels the most when you use the Flying-type Relic Song to weave between the forms and your immunities/resistances, as you can use both forms to exert pressure while also being able to stomach hits/make progress in one way or another since they have great offensive and defensive synergy with one another. Flying/Fighting itself leverages Flying-type Relic Song in a very effective way due to the Pokemon in the tier that check it, and the subsequent typing can be great at complementing Flying/Fighting and most "Help Yourself"-compatible tools while also further leaning into the idea that you would probably be changing between the forms a lot.

 

[viol and bass]

Feedback post!

To talk for a sec about my thought process, it's really really fine for a "pirouette" typing or even a triple-STAB combo to have checks. The concept is about wearing things down to clean later, but if you're shredding everything immediately, wearing things down early game is not a concern. If you have checks but you have some means and the longevity to get through them (this doesn't have to be via a STAB move by the way), that's a winning combo in my book. Longevity is a key piece of that, which is why I am prioritizing really solid defensive typings for the base form. This is probably the most complicated typing stage we've ever done, and the number of combos that actually work well here are not massive when you consider all of the factors. There's still a ton of subjectivity obviously, but anyway, these are my top picks.

Fire Steel => Fire/Ice

Fire/Ice is such a potent and cool offensive typing, and fire/steel is a reasonably good entry point. I'm not 100% sold on it as a defensive typing in this metagame– I'd honestly prefer a more defensively resilient but hazard weak initial form, but I think it has enough strengths to justify itself, and it's primarily a means to an end here. Fire/Ice is walled only by fires if you consider Freeze-Dry, and because we can easily drop Steel STAB, we have room for things like Knock Off which cuts into those fires' longevity, doubling STABs, or other utility. I think really good 2-move coverage is incredibly helpful in terms of dealing with our moveset issues, and this typing is absolutely perfect for that. I do kind of think this build doesn't spend a ton of time in base form, but that's something we can work with in later stages.

Grass/Steel => Grass/Fire

x / Steel -> x / Fire is just a great formula here, so I want to give a shoutout to Flying/Steel -> Flying/Fire because it's a similar build overall and also very good. I think what I prefer about this variant however is that:

• you're not competing directly with existing defensive centerpieces, and Grass/Steel does a lot. Like fully walling Chuggalong is really interesting, and you're a fake wellspring switch-in which is cool since that mon does not have non-fake switch-ins.
• Grass is actually pretty sick offensively. It targets a huge range of fat mons like Argh, Mola, Cresc, Tusk, Garg, etc. which you love being able to tear through. When you pair it with Fire which hits steels and I guess grasses and bugs, you have a pretty potent combination on your hands.

You again probably drop Steel STAB (this is a recurring theme), which frees up slots for utility or coverage. I also actually really like Grass as a CAP song typing, because I don't feel like Grass has a strong utility move that is calling out to you in the same way that like Scald or Sludge Bomb does.

I also prefer this to Steel/Grass -> Steel/Fighting because Grass/Fire makes more sense to me as a cleaning typing, and I think being forced to run the steel move is kinda rough in terms of moveslots. That one's worth considering too though.

Fighting/Poison > Fighting/Dark​

I'm on the books saying I don't think immunities are a big problem, and I think this combo has the potential to work incredibly well. Fighting/Poison is a wonderful defensive typing which matches beautifully into Darkrai, Zama and all sorts of shit while granting a poison (the status) immunity. Fighting/Dark is a very scary cleaning combo when poison coverage is in the mix. It's clean. My one worry with this submission is that I'm a little dubious on our ability to get through fat ghosts like Ghold, Kit, and Pecharunt by throwing out non-STAB dark moves. I think going physical is genuinely 100% off the table with this build because those guys are gonna shake off a non-stab Knock like it was nothing, recover it off, and deny your transformation forever. But a special build kind of magically alleviates that problem, and I think it could work great here. Fighting CAP Song is actually really nice as it's not far off of Aura Sphere's power and you don't have to worry about missing like you would with Focus Blast. Fighting's also not brimming with utility options that would compete for a slot. So anyway, overall I'm heavily in favor. It's really solid.

----
I just want to make short comments on a few other typings.

Ghost/Dark -> Ghost/Fairy: I genuinely don't see why you wouldn't just transform on turn 1 and start breaking things. This offensive typing is absurdly good. The balance is wildly skewed in favor of its tranformation form, to the point that the concept becomes really hard to fulfill. I'm not saying the mon won't have some scattered checks, but when part of the concept is based around having to wear things down early game, this is not foremost on my list of typings to facilitate that. If you go down the VR and try to find a target for ghost/dark to pick at in the early game instead of ghost/fairy tearing it to shreds immediately, you don't find that much.

Water/Poison -> Water/Ground: Lot of potential. The one minor worry here is the opposite of the above, that the base form outshines the transformation form. I think there are definitely ways to avoid this though, so this goes fairly high on my list. Definitely the correct order for this pairing.

Flying/Ground -> Flying/Ice: I think Flying/Ice has a ton of potential, but the competition here is so unbelievably rough that I think I'd personally choose a different initial typing. Flying/Fighting might be something to look at.

Fairy/Fighting -> Fairy/Electric: Base form isn't quite as defensively solid as I'd prefer for this, but it definitely has play and it'd work reasonably well for a tank build. Fairy/Electric is actually very potent coverage outside of Libra, and you've got the base form for that mon. I'm slightly worried about bulletproof rearing its head though can we run CC lol. Good balance between the mons. Overall quite good. I personally prefer this typing to the other fairy-type cleaners, because I like what Electric brings to the table coverage-wise.

Flying/Fighting -> Flying/Ghost this just got posted and I haven't had a ton of time to think through it but my initial thoughts are that it's sick as hell

 

[AzothBend]

Fire/Flying --> Fire/Psychic
CAP Song Type: Fire

Someone before posted a WIP that included a Fire/Psychic form that must've been dropped. Despite that, it's worth a second look.

Starting from the offensive potential of the second form, Fire/Psychic has incredible two-type coverage. Against the 98 Pokemon currently listed in SV CAP Viability Rankings, Fire/Psychic hits an astounding 96/98, leaving only Samurott-Hisui and Greninja unaccounted. And in-line with the concept, both should be very easy to whittle down over the course of the match. Fire and Psychic both offer strong STAB moves and utility through burn, stat-boosting, heal-blocking, and the like. For CAP Song itself, Fire is an excellent candidate, hitting about 2/3rds of the tier at least neutrally, with only Heatran sporting an immunity. All combined this would allow CAP36 to run two Fire STABs without limiting its offensive potential.

With that settled, CAP36 needs a complimentary base defensive form: Fire/Flying is the choice here. Moltres has already show the defensive strengths of the type, boasting important resistances to Fighting, Steel, Fire, Fairy, and Bug - with its ever-present U-turn - alongside an invaluable Ground immunity. Notably, Flying also imparts an immunity to most entry hazards. Meanwhile it is not so offensively potent to where CAP36 would be uncomfortable dropping it as STAB. Both secondary types (Flying and Psychic) also routinely have access to recovery moves should that be a priority. Admittedly, the biggest hurdle for Fire/Flying - and Fire generally - is its weakness to Stealth Rock, but there are ways of alleviating this, especially considering CAP36's role may require it to switch in and out repeatedly through a match.

 

[kenn]

Okay guys, all y'all have made fantastic suggestions and given amazing feedback and I have taken a good look at what everyone has brought to the table and came up with a final slate that I shall now present to you. Without further ado, the potential type combinations for 36 are...

Fire/Steel --> Fire/Ice
Water/Ground --> Water/Ice
Fire/Flying --> Fire/Ground
Grass/Steel --> Grass/Fire
Flying/Fighting --> Flying/Ghost

blurbs about each one

Fire/Steel --> Fire/Ice

This one is fairly obvious as to why it is a contender but also as to why I enjoy it so much. Fire/Ice is fantastic 2 STAB coverage while Steel provides amazing defensive utility without the draw of wanting/needing the STAB since Fire covers most of what it would want to hit.

Water/Ground --> Water/Ice

Another fantastic 3 type combo as most Water-types have access to Ice coverage anyways and gaining it as STAB is key to potentially nail some threats and being on the cleaner form allows to fire off some powerful Hydro Pumps or Ice Beams with ease.

Fire/Flying --> Fire/Ground

This one may look a bit backwards at first, but it's a fantastic combination. While it does shoehorn 36 a bit into forcing Boots as the item, due to the initial 4x weakness to SR, it can more easily swap to its offensive form for the defensive capability of blanking Electric-type moves and gaining a powerful STAB in the process. And as many pointed out, Moltres has proven just how potent Fire/Flying can be defensively

Grass/Steel --> Grass/Fire

As many know, Ferrothorn has proven just how defensive Grass/Steel can be and, in a similar way to the Fire/Steel --> Ice, it isn't necessary to run a Steel STAB which gives the ability to have an extra coverage or STAB with the offensive behemoth typing that is Grass/Fire.

Flying/Fighting --> Flying/Ghost

Lastly, we are making Tomohawk 2.0 this typing capitalized on the unique resistances of the Fighting type paired with the offensive prowess of the Ghost type all while utilizing a Flying CAP Song to guarantee a transformation whenever necessary. Flying pairs well with both to help ease the pain of entry hazards and, thanks to being part Fighting type, in its base form it is only neutral to SR.

And with that, we are headed to the polls! (Once we get the go ahead from the almighty SHSP that is lol)