CAP Buff 3 - Part 2 - Miasmaw Buff Discussion

[SDK03]

FINAL SUBMISSION

Movepool Changes:
+U-turn
+Knock Off
+Gunk Shot
+Wild Charge

Stat Changes:
-8 Def (60 > 52)
+11 SpD (85 > 96)
+6 Spe (92 > 98)
Old BST: 572
New BST: 581

Like my earlier rendition of this buff package, this adds the big four of U-Turn/Knock Off/Gunk Shot/Wild Charge, buffs Speed to beat all positively natured 97s and below like non-scarf Lele, Colossoil, Volkraken, non-scarf Jumbao, Naviathan, Urshifu and ties with Hydreigon, and buffs SpD to survive uninvested Moonblast from Tapu Fini and Clefable while only being 2HKO by Slowbro’s Ice Beam 6.6% of the time. Defense is lowered to keep the BST closer to original and because a lot of what we want Miasmaw to target better are mostly special attackers and specially-offensive walls and sponges (Zap, the Tapus, Cyclohm, Clefable, Slowbro, etc.) and it doesn’t hurt for balance sake to keep Miasmaw frail on the side it doesn’t get attacked on too much anyways. All this is done while still preserving Miasmaw’s special stat that isn’t used all to often anyways and giving Miasmaw just a modest 9+ increase in BST, less than even alot of GameFreak buffs (+10-20 BST on average).

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Miasmaw (52 Def): 138-162 (44.3 - 52%) -- 16.8% chance to 2HKO

0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Miasmaw: 204-240 (65.5 - 77.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Miasmaw: 74-87 (23.7 - 27.9%) -- 91% chance to 4HKO

Main Set: Physical Neutralizing Gas Wallbreaker
Miasmaw @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Choice Band
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
- U-turn
- Dragon Hammer / Outrage
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot / Earthquake / Close Combat / Wild Charge

I already explained the reasoning for the added moves in my first rendition of my buff package (STAB pivoting attack that isn’t easily punished, utility attack that provides dark coverage and synergizes well with NGas in limiting how much opponents can do, fairy-killer coverage and something that hits Corv and bulky waters better) and explained the EV changes above, so I don’t feel like there’s much left for me to say. An overall modest buff package that gives Miasmaw what it really needs: Spammable coverage and STAB that isn’t overly easy to punish or tank (aside from Wild Charge cause of recoil damage), a slight buff to SpD to fare better against its more specially-offensive oriented checks and counters and a slight buff to Speed to help outpace major checks such as Tapu Lele, Urshifu, Colossoil and tying with Hydreigon.

​

FINAL (I SWEAR THIS TIME, THE ACTUAL LAST ONE) SUBMISSION

Movepool Changes:
+U-turn
+Knock Off
+Gunk Shot
+Wild Charge

Stat Changes:
+11 SpD (85 > 96)
+6 Spe (92 > 98)
Old BST: 572
New BST: 589

Literally just like the last version of my buff package, but by MaahirMomtaz12’s suggestion and my personal bias towards a cool ass Bug/Dragon type, I removed the Def nerf as it doesn’t change any of this thing’s matchups against most physical attackers anyways. GameFreak gave a 20 Atk buff to Dugtrio so who cares if Miasmaw gets an extra 17 in total BST.

​

 

[spoo]

Final Submission

+U-turn
+Wild Charge
+9 Atk
+11 Spe
-12 SpA

New stats: 85 / 144 / 60 / 103 / 85 / 103 | 570 BST

U-turn is really self explanatory, it's probably the most popular option here and for good reason. I think Wild Charge will be inferior to Earthquake on most movesets, but an option to hit Argh, Pex, and Corv in one slot has its place, and is generally unproblematic considering Maw's access to special Electric coverage.

As far as stats go, Speed is once again a popular place to buff, with 103 letting Maw get the jump on Lele, Urshifu-R, Paj, Ebook, and Garchomp among others. + Attack is probably the most unique part of this buff and was mainly motivated by wanting to help Miasmaw not rely on CB as heavily; I think CB on a Rock-weak U-turn pivot is inherently super awful, but at the same time, Miasmaw really needs that damage output to do anything meaningful. +9 Atk barely misses the 2HKO on Pex with EQ and Clef with PJab, so you either need to have rocks up or leverage NGas (denying regen/poison immunity) to be able to reliably break them. It also means coverage + U-turn is doing over half to a lot of stuff - there's still some pivoting/prediction Maw will need to do before being able to freely 2HKO things the way it wants. I haven't seen many Attack buffs in this thread so I thought I'd give it a stab, though this is still pretty conservative in the grand scheme.

Calcs

252 Atk Miasmaw Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 126-150 (41.4 - 49.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Miasmaw Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 166-196 (42.1 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Miasmaw U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 54-64 (13.7 - 16.2%) -- possible 7HKO

252 Atk Miasmaw Wild Charge vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 158-188 (39.5 - 47%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Miasmaw Wild Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Arghonaut: 158-188 (38.1 - 45.4%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and poison damage
252 Atk Miasmaw U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Arghonaut: 46-54 (11.1 - 13%) -- possible 8HKO

 

[Wulfanator]

Thank you all for your participation. I think with 3 days for submissions, it is time to wrap things up. Here is your slate.

Package 1 by dex
Package 2 by Voltage
Package 3 by Darek
Package 4 by shnowshner
Package 5 by Pipotchi

Slate

+U-turn
+11 SpD
+6 Spe
+Dragon Darts
-17 SpA

+ U-turn
+ Wild Charge
+ Gunk Shot
+ 7 Spe (92 -> 99)
+ 20 SpD (85 -> 105)
- 27 SpA (115 -> 88)

+U-Turn
+Dragon Darts
-Swords Dance
+23 Spe(92 ->115)
- 23 Spa(115 -> 92)

+U-Turn
+Knock Off
+18 Speed
+15 Special Defense
-30 Special Attack

+Poison-type
+Toxic
-Bug-type
-Swords Dance
-Nasty Plot

Most submissions shared very similar traits that heavily reflected the discussion had in the thread. This made it difficult to find packages with unique identities from other options while still solving the issues with Miasmaw. These 5 were deemed to be generous alterations while still being reasonable.

Dex's was the tamest submission of the entire slate. The small stat adjustments make its speed tier more favorable into matchups against Tapu lele and Urshifu-R. SpD was increased to help take some attacks more favorably. The calc provided shows it taking a Tapu Fini Moonblast, but this SpD also helps into something like Ice Beam from Slowbro. U-turn was a rather universal addition for most submission. It is valuable utility and alleviates some of the issues regarding needing to predict once in. Dragon Darts rounds off the set by providing Miasmaw with a nice power increase without having to further increase its absurd attack stat.

Voltage's submission was next to be slated. U-turn and a minor speed increase are also present in this adjustment, but the most notable changes come from the increase to SpD and Gunk Shot. The power increase from Poison Jab is very noticeable and gives Miasmaw a great option into fairies that would stall its progress. The change in SpD helps Miasmaw take a slew of attacks more reliably, and, in conjunction with its coverage, it should be able to force switches more easily.

Darek's suggestions was more extreme than the previous two but was very direct in what it aimed to accomplish. The goal of the speed tier was to allow for Miasmaw to out speed Urshifu without sacrificing the power of Adamant. Should people continue to use band, this will be a more favorable spread. If not band, Jolly gets the jump on Astrolotl which will be nice for Heavy-Duty Boots sets. Darts, again, gives a nice power increase to STAB, and U-turn is just a no-brainer. U-turn is made even better with the faster speed tier.

The last of the U-Turn army, Shnowshner. Shnowshner's changes add additional utility in the form of Knock Off. The speed increase bumps it to base 110. It aims to do a similar thing to Darek's by out speeding while running an Adamant nature, but the matchup of choice is strictly Tapu Lele. The SpD adjustment guarantees some of the roles that +11 fails to ensure, but the difference isn't that noticeable. This spread stood out because it did not have any raw power adjustments with new coverage of STAB moves.

Finally and probably the most controversial, Pip's type change. After the discussion had in this thread, bug was arguably more of a burden than a help to Miasmaw's cause. The removal of the rocks weakness enables it to run more offensive items without being punished for it. The removal of setup may or may not be a good call simply because we cannot accurately gauge how this type of change will land without playtest data. This will hopefully be a palatable option for users concerned about flavor and type changes from the buff process.

These are the 5 that will be sent to polling. Poll will be set up first thing in the morning so I can have some parental supervision setting up my first poll.