How is Gooey anti-concept, it allows CAP to help teammates deal with physical attackers better by lowering both its offensive stats if they predict a contact move and can parting shot.
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CAP 22 CAP 22 - Part 6 - Secondary Ability Discussion
- Thread starter HeaLnDeaL
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Of the Pokemon that naturally outspeed this CAP, there are only three that use contact moves: Weavile, Talonflame, and Mega Lopunny. Weavile and Mega Lopunny are both Pokemon that we intended to threaten from the start (Dark and Fighting-types, broadly) and both are disadvantaged against this CAP by typing, so imo they make good arguments for Gooey, not against it. The notion that via the stats poll they somehow moved from the "threaten" list into a protected class of checks we dare not interfere with has no basis and I'm not positive that idea had been introduced by anybody before the quoted post. If anything, being able to situationally outspeed and check these two particular Pokemon while still being outsped and checked by Alakazam and Tornadus-T is a great convenience for our threat list as well as a boon for the concept, as the CAP must actually pivot into their attacks in order to use the ability to force a sac or switch (for reference, MLop Fake Out + Return vs. 0/4 CAP: 88 - 105%; LO Weavile Knock Off + Icicle Crash: 80 - 94%; Knock Off + Ice Shard: 47 - 56%). Talonflame is a Pokemon this CAP will never switch into; the best CAP can do is sac itself to Brave Bird or Acrobatics for a single-stage Speed drop against a Pokemon that is centered around the use of priority moves. An argument could maybe be made that slowing down Talonflame's Flare Blitz, Bulk Up, and/or Will-o-Wisp is somehow detrimental, but I can't think of a good one myself, at least not one that has anything to do with this CAP Project. If there are other examples of Pokemon with contact attacks that this CAP should not be messing with, I think they would do a more convincing job of supporting an anti-Gooey argument.
Personally, I am torn between Gooey and Sticky Hold for secondary ability. Gooey rewards good pivoting and integrates very well with the general Parting Shot strategy of forcing switches by lowering stats. On the other hand, Sticky Hold patches up a glaring issue with the CAP's functionality by actually allowing it to switch into the most common Dark STAB in the game and maintain its intended level of offensive pressure afterward. And neither really interferes with or overshadow Natural Cure as far as I can tell, as they address lesser issues and are more narrowly focused.
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Korski you're forgetting every Choice Scarf user, like maybe Choice Scarf Jirachi. Also Mega Aero's fang/tail moves. Also DD Gyarados, Naviathan, or Aurumoth. Or a Mega Swampert in Rain's predicted Ice Punch. There are plenty of ways Gooey can be abused that are really unintended and unnecessary for the concept. It can even just be used as a generally useful way to sac a pokemon to stop a sweeper. Like, you have SR up, the opposing Mega Pinsir is below 50%. All you have left is a CAP 22 and an offensive heatran. This is a matchup you should lose, EQ the Heatran, Return the CAP 22... but oh wait Gooey now means Mega Pinsir, which should totally threaten that pair, only gets a trade and therefore you win.
There's also the lovely problem where if CAP 22 guesses wrong and switches in on Bisharp's Iron Head, then not only is CAP 22 dead, but Bisharp is +2 Attack...
It's an ability that has many chances for unintended consequences. I'm for keeping it simple, stupid. Sticky Hold meets that.
There's also the lovely problem where if CAP 22 guesses wrong and switches in on Bisharp's Iron Head, then not only is CAP 22 dead, but Bisharp is +2 Attack...
It's an ability that has many chances for unintended consequences. I'm for keeping it simple, stupid. Sticky Hold meets that.
david0895
Mercy Main Btw
I explained badly before, so I will be more specific: if CAP22 has this speed stat is because it's not necessary that it outspeeds certain pokèmon.
Take Tornadus-T: we have decided that it needs to faster than CAP22. But if the last enter on Superpower/Knock Off, Tornadus-T will become slower.
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I'm really liking Sticky Hold for reasons stated before, I think it would be quite helpful because without a Life Orb, we fail to OHKO a lot of mons.
Also really into Aroma Veil because Taunt users basically shut down our concept.
I like Gooey too, though I'm afraid I might actually run it over Natural Cure sometimes. Speed reduction is very helpful for our teammates, and it goes with the whole "force things out 'cause of stat drops" theme of CAP22. I'd like to see what our Leader and our Abilities Leader think of Gooey.
Also really into Aroma Veil because Taunt users basically shut down our concept.
I like Gooey too, though I'm afraid I might actually run it over Natural Cure sometimes. Speed reduction is very helpful for our teammates, and it goes with the whole "force things out 'cause of stat drops" theme of CAP22. I'd like to see what our Leader and our Abilities Leader think of Gooey.
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Not your Abilities Leader? ;-;
Quick post: I don't really like Gooey at the moment because the only Pokemon that can outspeed CAP22 at -1 (barring priority) would be base 120 Speed Choice Scarf users, which is absolutely ridiculous. Competitive has been discussed in the first thread and, while not banned, still feels very anti-concept. I'm loving to read the discussion during my free time this week, keep it up!
Are people complaining about Gooey being anticoncept, and then suggesting running an ability which discourages further use Parting Shot in favour of a Life Orb to OHKO?
Parting Shots initial complaint was that it wasn't useful enough over another attack, even in UU. Here, you're activrly suggesting reasons so as why NOT to run the move, and so on, the entire concept behind the CAP?
What gives?
Parting Shots initial complaint was that it wasn't useful enough over another attack, even in UU. Here, you're activrly suggesting reasons so as why NOT to run the move, and so on, the entire concept behind the CAP?
What gives?
People don't like Gooey because it messes with our threat list. For example, if base Lopunny uses Fake Out to Mega Evolve safely, it gets hit with Gooey and becomes outsped by CAP22, something that shouldn't happen. What should happen is that Mega Lopunny should outspeed and hit us with Return. Our threat list includes Choice Scarf users and faster threats as a large portion of our threat list, and while not all threats are affected by Gooey, it still poses an issue with some of them.
Mega Lopunny is already on our threatlist. Mega Gyarados too.
Mega Pinsir only renaining, at 50% HP vs Offensive Heatran and CAP loses out. I'm not sure how much more niche you can get for that.
Jirachi has many other possible sets to run not relying on Choice Scarf.
I've not got a problem with Gooey being discounted; rather that it was discounted for the correct reasons.
And i do disagree with Sticky Hold for already listed reasons; mainly that it was suggested with Life Orb in mind for a tactic that the build wasn't intended for; ie sweeping rather than phasing.
Mega Pinsir only renaining, at 50% HP vs Offensive Heatran and CAP loses out. I'm not sure how much more niche you can get for that.
Jirachi has many other possible sets to run not relying on Choice Scarf.
I've not got a problem with Gooey being discounted; rather that it was discounted for the correct reasons.
And i do disagree with Sticky Hold for already listed reasons; mainly that it was suggested with Life Orb in mind for a tactic that the build wasn't intended for; ie sweeping rather than phasing.
I'm agreeing a lot with what people like Snake and Bughouse are saying about Gooey, it messes with a lot, be it threatlist or how an actual game goes (the bisharp example). Sticky Hold I'm liking quite a bit actually, it gives Cap22 the ability to be either a status absorber with Natural Cure or a Knock Off absorber with Sticky Hold. I don't see a huge problem with the whole "keeping life orb" issue since A: we won't necessarily be running LO, and B: LO helps us force switches which has popped up again and again as a massive point in the viability of Parting Shot. It doesn't mess with our threatlist like Gooey and also fills a different role then Natural Cure does, fitting of a secondary ability.
If we want an ability that doesn't outclass Natural Cure AND has a more supportive effect vs an offensive one, it seems hard to really justify much other than Aroma Veil, Mold Breaker (maybe), or a Non-Competitive Ability. Aroma Veil's immunity to Taunt provides a clear benefit to PS'mon while having only marginal benefits to its attacking capabilities by preventing its attacking abilities from being disabled. (Cursed Body activations are the only situation that could reasonably come up, but you would probably not want to keep PS'mon in front of Jellicent that much.) The trade off between abilities, either a way to remove status effects or a way to ensure that you can Parting Shot away, seems fairly even too.
Mold Breaker would have more of an effect on Parting Shot's ability to debuff opposing Pokemon than it would dealing damage as neither type in PS'mon's typing has to worry about an immunity prevent its attacks from working. Deck Knight's done a good job pointing out all the Pros to it, so I'm not sure what else could be added.
Besides that, I am not sure what else could hit all the points we say we want in a secondary ability, so the option of just keeping it as it currently is certainly an option. Natural Cure's certainly not a bad ability, especially for a Pokemon that likes to switch a lot, and it should be able to force switches as is, so another ability could get in the way.
SHSP: If the fact that Life Orb forces switches is true, then what else could be run to make up for the loss of Life Orb to justify your first point? Yes there are other ways to force switches besides through attacks, but what items would they want to use that PS'mon would need to hold on to?
Mold Breaker would have more of an effect on Parting Shot's ability to debuff opposing Pokemon than it would dealing damage as neither type in PS'mon's typing has to worry about an immunity prevent its attacks from working. Deck Knight's done a good job pointing out all the Pros to it, so I'm not sure what else could be added.
Besides that, I am not sure what else could hit all the points we say we want in a secondary ability, so the option of just keeping it as it currently is certainly an option. Natural Cure's certainly not a bad ability, especially for a Pokemon that likes to switch a lot, and it should be able to force switches as is, so another ability could get in the way.
SHSP: If the fact that Life Orb forces switches is true, then what else could be run to make up for the loss of Life Orb to justify your first point? Yes there are other ways to force switches besides through attacks, but what items would they want to use that PS'mon would need to hold on to?
I would have to agree with No Competitive Ability because Natural Cure is already good enough for a supporting pivot. A lot of useful Abilities from the first discussion are banned as well, so there's no need to discuss them.
Now that users have mentioned Aroma Veil, doesn't Oblivious do the exact same thing in Gen 6? It also allows the CAP to use status techniques more easily, switching out to let a more powerful threat to sweep more easily than before.
Now that users have mentioned Aroma Veil, doesn't Oblivious do the exact same thing in Gen 6? It also allows the CAP to use status techniques more easily, switching out to let a more powerful threat to sweep more easily than before.
I think No Competitive Ability needs more discussion. As I stated before, CAP 22 already has a combination of auspicious typing, speed, power, ability, and even bulk, the latter of which we were too far generous to give our CAP, regardless of what some people may believed, all of which is topped off with a pivoting move that has the potential to grant a considerable amount of reward to the CAP using it. I do not think we need to buff our CAP even further by giving it generically good abilities like Mold Breaker, Intimidate, Gooey (which strongly backfires against Bisharp, a mon we are supposed to check), Sticky Hold, etc.
Oblivious just blocks Attraction and Taunt. Aroma Veil blocks those plus Disables (both the move and Cursed Body), Encore, Torment, and Heal Block. Out of all of those, Immunity to Disables has a marginal chance of being useful, so I think that has some merit over Oblivious. In a "eh, why not use this very minor thing to justify one thing over a virtually same other thing." Way.
I'd like to hear what people think of Iron Fist.
It seems like the sort of ability a fighting type might have, and it could be moderately useful if you decide to run a punching move. However, HeaL + Snake described that because of our fairly low Attack of 78, using physical moves is not supposed to be "worth it". Iron Fist would be inferior to Natural Cure 95% of the time but could still be helpful, especially if we want somewhat weak coverage in the elemental punches or simply boosting Mach Punch, and it could help us regain a bit of health with Drain Punch. It still wouldn't really be worth it to run more than one attack that is a physical move, and at the end of the day Natural Cure is better than Iron Fist, but Iron Fist is still kinda cool.
TL;DR: iron fist is the best ability slate it and vote for it
It seems like the sort of ability a fighting type might have, and it could be moderately useful if you decide to run a punching move. However, HeaL + Snake described that because of our fairly low Attack of 78, using physical moves is not supposed to be "worth it". Iron Fist would be inferior to Natural Cure 95% of the time but could still be helpful, especially if we want somewhat weak coverage in the elemental punches or simply boosting Mach Punch, and it could help us regain a bit of health with Drain Punch. It still wouldn't really be worth it to run more than one attack that is a physical move, and at the end of the day Natural Cure is better than Iron Fist, but Iron Fist is still kinda cool.
TL;DR: iron fist is the best ability slate it and vote for it
Close Combat is the only physical attack CAP 22 will probably need, as Iron Fist Drain still is far too weak whereas Close Combat does not require any investment to hit 2HKO Chansey with Life Orb:
0 Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 361-429 (56.2 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Life Orb Iron Fist Lucario Drain Punch vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 273-322 (42.5 - 50.1%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 80 Def Colossoil: 322-382 (79.1 - 93.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Life Orb Iron Fist Lucario Drain Punch vs. 0 HP / 80 Def Colossoil: 242-289 (59.4 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
For the sake of power difference, although CAP 22 prefers Aura Sphere to hit Ferrothorn, this calc does show the stark difference in terms of power as well:
0 Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 182-218 (51.7 - 61.9%) -- 96.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Life Orb Iron Fist Lucario Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 140-166 (39.7 - 47.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Aroma Veil all the way. It's such a cool and useful ability that only the unviable Aromatisse has. It patches the main flaw that most utility mons have and allows this Pokemon to always use Parting Shot no matter what.
Not really much else to say other than that, it's a very underrated ability in general and it has so much potential to work with so many Pokemon, and CAP 22 is no exception.
Not really much else to say other than that, it's a very underrated ability in general and it has so much potential to work with so many Pokemon, and CAP 22 is no exception.
It has a really bad Attack stat though, it wouldn't be able to make much if any use of it
Ignus
Copying deli meat to hard drive
I'm going to support No Competitive Ability as well - predictability is one of the biggest differences between a 'mon being broken and being balanced. The reason we decided on natural cure in the first place was to attract a very specific set of Pokemon. While I don't think having it run something like aroma veil will make it suddenly broken, I think it's worth noting that regardless of what secondary ability we choose, it almost guarantees an increase in versatility. As a special attacker, we already have access to hidden power, so why should we exacerbate the issue when we already know exactly what we want to come in on us?
Unless there's some ability that allows us to hit stuff that we're SUPPOSED TO or that helps us handle one of the things that we don't want coming in on us that we don't already deal with as we are now, we shouldn't be supporting it. Do I think we'll get access to a secondary ability that's suddenly going to wreck our checks and counters? No. Do I think CAP has a tendency to give our creations access to too many tools? Definitely. Versatility is something we should be nipping in the bud now, because it sure as hell won't happen later.
Unless there's some ability that allows us to hit stuff that we're SUPPOSED TO or that helps us handle one of the things that we don't want coming in on us that we don't already deal with as we are now, we shouldn't be supporting it. Do I think we'll get access to a secondary ability that's suddenly going to wreck our checks and counters? No. Do I think CAP has a tendency to give our creations access to too many tools? Definitely. Versatility is something we should be nipping in the bud now, because it sure as hell won't happen later.
david0895
Mercy Main Btw
Iron Fist: why give this ability at a special attacker? If we need a particular coverage move Hidden Power should be good enough.
No Competitive Ability: this could be a good option, but I don't think the best: Natural cure is good team-support ability, but it doesn't block even a move that could negate the use of Parting Shot.
Do you really think that there's no other ability that could help CAP22 to use it?
No Competitive Ability: this could be a good option, but I don't think the best: Natural cure is good team-support ability, but it doesn't block even a move that could negate the use of Parting Shot.
One of the question at the start of this thread is: WHAT OTHER ABILITIES FAVOR THE USE OF PARTING SHOT?
Do you really think that there's no other ability that could help CAP22 to use it?
I agree that we should attempt to avoid most Typing Immunity abilities, as they seem kinda random at the moment (they don't really help against any specifically mentioned threats), as well as for the reason that Deck stated about overshadowing the primary ability. One option I would like to throw out there is Bulletproof. There is very specific reasoning behind this, in the spoiler below.
EDIT IN RESPONSE TO COMMENTS:
I realize that we want our CAP to be threatened by most Poison and Steel types, but the contradictory message we have is that we want to beat passive Pokemon. My interpretation of this is that we want our CAP threatened by Offensive Steel/Poison Types, while threatening passive Steel/Poison Types. As Gyro Ball and Sludge Bomb are only used by defensive Pokemon, it allows us to check only defensive ones rather than those that run Sludge Wave or other offensive moves. I do see your points, and I had been thinking that someone would rather use Natural Cure over it often since CAP22 w/ Bulletproof would be highly vulnerable to status.
Our switchins to defensive Poison Types and defensive Steel Types would be far easier due to the immunities specifically to Gyro Ball and Sludge Bomb. One of our key plans was to threaten defensive Pokemon, pretty much of all sorts. Lets take the key Pokemon in mind here, Ferrothorn, into consideration.
252 SpA Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 186-218 (52.8 - 61.9%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 242-283 (68.7 - 80.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lucario: 348-410 (112.6 - 132.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
A OHKO from Standard Ferrothorn. This is not something we can afford to have if a single mispredicted switchin can cause the CAP's demise. Additionally, Ferrothorn could easily KO the CAP late match if it keeps respectable HP up as CAP22 cannot even OHKO Ferrothorn back when using Life Orb.
The other key point is being capable of standing against defensive Poison Types. We do want to be threatened by Poison types, but chiefly offensive ones. Pokemon, most notably Mega Venusaur and Amoongus, can easily wall our Pokemon. I feel like we should avoid this situation because these Pokemon are common on bulky teams and could significantly decrease our capabilities against bulky gameplay.
The other move immunities granted aren't particularly important since many aren't relevant or we resist already, with only one exception in Breloom. We would now be able to resist every and all common Breloom sets, in addition to making it guess if Spore would be useful because of the possibility of Natural Cure.
252 SpA Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 186-218 (52.8 - 61.9%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 242-283 (68.7 - 80.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lucario: 348-410 (112.6 - 132.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
A OHKO from Standard Ferrothorn. This is not something we can afford to have if a single mispredicted switchin can cause the CAP's demise. Additionally, Ferrothorn could easily KO the CAP late match if it keeps respectable HP up as CAP22 cannot even OHKO Ferrothorn back when using Life Orb.
The other key point is being capable of standing against defensive Poison Types. We do want to be threatened by Poison types, but chiefly offensive ones. Pokemon, most notably Mega Venusaur and Amoongus, can easily wall our Pokemon. I feel like we should avoid this situation because these Pokemon are common on bulky teams and could significantly decrease our capabilities against bulky gameplay.
The other move immunities granted aren't particularly important since many aren't relevant or we resist already, with only one exception in Breloom. We would now be able to resist every and all common Breloom sets, in addition to making it guess if Spore would be useful because of the possibility of Natural Cure.
EDIT IN RESPONSE TO COMMENTS:
I realize that we want our CAP to be threatened by most Poison and Steel types, but the contradictory message we have is that we want to beat passive Pokemon. My interpretation of this is that we want our CAP threatened by Offensive Steel/Poison Types, while threatening passive Steel/Poison Types. As Gyro Ball and Sludge Bomb are only used by defensive Pokemon, it allows us to check only defensive ones rather than those that run Sludge Wave or other offensive moves. I do see your points, and I had been thinking that someone would rather use Natural Cure over it often since CAP22 w/ Bulletproof would be highly vulnerable to status.
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We want to lose to Poison and Steel-types so giving our CAP Bulletproof is going to do the exact opposite of what we want to do. Ferrothorn is not switching in on us anyways, and Amoonguss commonly carries Clear Smog instead of Sludge Bomb, so our CAP is not blocking it from hitting it with Poison-type attacks. Mega Venusaur cannot be prevented from walling us through abilities alone unless you want to run Mold Breaker, but Mega Venusaur is rather easy to wear down so being walled by it is not that big of a deal (see also Azumarill, Mega Altaria who both also get walled by M-Venu).
New poster, mostly, to debate threads here. 'Read up on both ability threads and figured I could put out a few worthwhile thoughts on what's being talked about right now, if lucky.
No Competitive Ability: I think, as a few people have voiced, this CAP might be better off without a secondary utility boost when compared to the suggestions this thread has offered so far. There are a few options besides this that I'm willing to throw support behind, but as Ignus and Alfalfa both elaborated on, in this case an extra utility ability might be more than what's actually needed for this CAP to do it's job well. That having been said...
1. What abilities offer utility different from Natural Cure that will also complement Parting Shot?
Frisk. Frisk absolutely does, and it makes perfect sense to me that it wasn't chosen over Natural Cure the first time around, because it's a substantially inferior ability, and there's only a few situations where I myself would run it, but when the question of choosing "No Competitive Ability" is brought up, my mind jumps to Frisk. I understand that there are pokemon like Kitsunoh that may be able to utilize it better, but this doesn't in any way seem like an anti-concept ability to me, and although this is probably the biggest point of my ignorance and inexperience in the metagame speaking for me, I do not understand why Frisk shouldn't be chosen over no competitive ability.
Aroma Veil: Up the same alley as Frisk, this idea has my support, but not an overwhelming amount of it. I'd still say it's worth voting for over No Competitive Ability as it isn't anti-concept, shouldn't be used more often than Natural Cure, and incentivizes the use of Parting Shot over an offensive ability, however like Frisk, I'd still assert that it isn't an ability that makes or breaks this mon's job.
2. What other abilities would help us target our threatlist?
Sticky Hold: I like this one, but after reflecting on why I like this suggestion for a little while, it probably shouldn't get picked over an ability that compliments Parting Shot, I don't think. CAP 22, as it stands, should not be getting obliterated by Dark types, and because Knock Off is what it is, and because our stats are what they are, and because 22 could really benefit from a Life Orb, I really liked this idea. The unfortunate truth is, however, that what we're working with right now doesn't have a crippling Knock Off weakness or a crippling dependence on a stat boosting Item to do sufficient damage to most of the things it needs to check. I don't think this idea is anti-concept as I've seen a few people suggest, but it could overshadow Natural Cure in my opinion, and it... I think this CAP would be doing it's job of pivoting in Parting Shot-able situations, more often without the option of this ability.
Justified: Small suggestion that I thought of for people like myself who have qualms with Sticky Hold: would Justified remedy your qualms with this kind of an ability? The only major arguments I've seen made for Sticky Hold are taking into account that 22 is holding a Life Orb, and the opponent uses Knock Off, that's supposed to be the main purpose of where Sticky Hold as an ability helps this CAP. Well, what about Justified instead? I feel like as a niche ability, it might be a more supportable alternative for Sticky Hold cynics. Then again I understand that any form of stat boost goes against an incentive to use parting shot, so I'm not sure just how smart of a suggestion that is, but hey, just a thought.
Gooey/Intimidate: Sorry for not addressing these abilities individually but to make this post a little less cluttered, I think both of these are bad ideas for slightly different reasons. Gooey is the better of them to me, and it still feels too useful. There was a very polarizing debate about what this CAP's speed should beat out in the stats department, I get the impression that Gooey would not only overshadow Natural Cure, but also that 22 doesn't require a situational speed buff in it's toolkit. As for the latter, I don't know the facts, the calcs and stuff on this one, but Intimidate seems way too good for this guy. People besides me have been going against Gooey for messing with our checklist, how would an instant Defense buff every switch in not do that tenfold? I barely see anyone running Natural Cure or even using Parting Shot if 22 gets Intimidate.
No Competitive Ability: I think, as a few people have voiced, this CAP might be better off without a secondary utility boost when compared to the suggestions this thread has offered so far. There are a few options besides this that I'm willing to throw support behind, but as Ignus and Alfalfa both elaborated on, in this case an extra utility ability might be more than what's actually needed for this CAP to do it's job well. That having been said...
1. What abilities offer utility different from Natural Cure that will also complement Parting Shot?
Frisk. Frisk absolutely does, and it makes perfect sense to me that it wasn't chosen over Natural Cure the first time around, because it's a substantially inferior ability, and there's only a few situations where I myself would run it, but when the question of choosing "No Competitive Ability" is brought up, my mind jumps to Frisk. I understand that there are pokemon like Kitsunoh that may be able to utilize it better, but this doesn't in any way seem like an anti-concept ability to me, and although this is probably the biggest point of my ignorance and inexperience in the metagame speaking for me, I do not understand why Frisk shouldn't be chosen over no competitive ability.
Aroma Veil: Up the same alley as Frisk, this idea has my support, but not an overwhelming amount of it. I'd still say it's worth voting for over No Competitive Ability as it isn't anti-concept, shouldn't be used more often than Natural Cure, and incentivizes the use of Parting Shot over an offensive ability, however like Frisk, I'd still assert that it isn't an ability that makes or breaks this mon's job.
2. What other abilities would help us target our threatlist?
Sticky Hold: I like this one, but after reflecting on why I like this suggestion for a little while, it probably shouldn't get picked over an ability that compliments Parting Shot, I don't think. CAP 22, as it stands, should not be getting obliterated by Dark types, and because Knock Off is what it is, and because our stats are what they are, and because 22 could really benefit from a Life Orb, I really liked this idea. The unfortunate truth is, however, that what we're working with right now doesn't have a crippling Knock Off weakness or a crippling dependence on a stat boosting Item to do sufficient damage to most of the things it needs to check. I don't think this idea is anti-concept as I've seen a few people suggest, but it could overshadow Natural Cure in my opinion, and it... I think this CAP would be doing it's job of pivoting in Parting Shot-able situations, more often without the option of this ability.
Justified: Small suggestion that I thought of for people like myself who have qualms with Sticky Hold: would Justified remedy your qualms with this kind of an ability? The only major arguments I've seen made for Sticky Hold are taking into account that 22 is holding a Life Orb, and the opponent uses Knock Off, that's supposed to be the main purpose of where Sticky Hold as an ability helps this CAP. Well, what about Justified instead? I feel like as a niche ability, it might be a more supportable alternative for Sticky Hold cynics. Then again I understand that any form of stat boost goes against an incentive to use parting shot, so I'm not sure just how smart of a suggestion that is, but hey, just a thought.
Gooey/Intimidate: Sorry for not addressing these abilities individually but to make this post a little less cluttered, I think both of these are bad ideas for slightly different reasons. Gooey is the better of them to me, and it still feels too useful. There was a very polarizing debate about what this CAP's speed should beat out in the stats department, I get the impression that Gooey would not only overshadow Natural Cure, but also that 22 doesn't require a situational speed buff in it's toolkit. As for the latter, I don't know the facts, the calcs and stuff on this one, but Intimidate seems way too good for this guy. People besides me have been going against Gooey for messing with our checklist, how would an instant Defense buff every switch in not do that tenfold? I barely see anyone running Natural Cure or even using Parting Shot if 22 gets Intimidate.
I don't like Justified as an ability. CAP22 is a special attacker, or should be. Also self boosts are pretty anti-concept 'cause parting shot, it bears repeating. So it's either Justified is useless as no moves make use of it, or it's against PS.
It is my opinion that CAP22 is already well-equipped to pull off its given role, and doesn't need the added utility/variability of a secondary ability. As such, I am a supporter of No Secondary Ability or No Competitive Ability.
There are, however, a couple abilities that are niche enough. One is Aroma Veil, that allows CAP22 to evade Taunts and Parting Shot away regardless. The other is Frisk, while helps scouting enemy sets and complements CAP22's pivot role well. Both have their unique perks, but not quite enough to be picked over Natural Cure (which will be the ability of choice 99% of the times). Not much else needs to be said that hasn't already been said.
I honestly find the Intimidate suggestion completely ridiculous. Intimidate is way too good of an ability, no matter what. It would be exceptional even as a primary ability, and pretty much anything that gets it will make use of it. Hell, it makes Qwilfish not-so-bad.
Intimidate = Big No-No.
There are, however, a couple abilities that are niche enough. One is Aroma Veil, that allows CAP22 to evade Taunts and Parting Shot away regardless. The other is Frisk, while helps scouting enemy sets and complements CAP22's pivot role well. Both have their unique perks, but not quite enough to be picked over Natural Cure (which will be the ability of choice 99% of the times). Not much else needs to be said that hasn't already been said.
I honestly find the Intimidate suggestion completely ridiculous. Intimidate is way too good of an ability, no matter what. It would be exceptional even as a primary ability, and pretty much anything that gets it will make use of it. Hell, it makes Qwilfish not-so-bad.
Intimidate = Big No-No.
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