CAP 33 - Part 1 - TL and TLT Applications

[spoo]

This is the thread for people to announce their desire to become either the Topic Leader (TL) or a member of the Topic Leadership Team (TLT) for this creation project. Do not suggest other users. If someone wants to become the TL or a TLT member, they will post on their own, and if they don't have a strong urge to be it then they shouldn't be signing up anyway. The CAP project requires the utmost dedication and a substantial amount of free time, especially to lead, meaning that only those who have carefully considered the magnitude of their application will apply at all. If you are not prepared to fulfill all of the responsibilities to the very end, then do not throw your hat into the ring.

Before applying it is important to read and understand the following posts
Topic Leadership
CAP 5 - Policy Review Summary

We are looking to fill the following five positions to help us lead the creation of this new Pokemon:

• Topic Leader: In the public's eyes, this is the leader of the project. Unlike past Topic Leaders, they now only make the slate for Concept Submissions. Overall, the goal of the TL is "quality control", not "project control". The responsibilities of the TL include running Concept Assessment, Threats Discussion, Post Play Lookback, and finalizing the slates of TLT members.
• Topic Leadership Team: The TLT will be leading the four major competitive aspects of creating a Pokemon. They will make slates for their respective threads and provide meaningful discussion points to their specific area. Note that TLT members are allowed to make submissions during stages of the CAP process that they are not actively leading. We are looking to fill the following four positions:
  • Typing Leader
  • Ability Leader
  • Stats Leader
  • Movepool Leader

When making your application, please indicate which position(s) you are applying for. You must identify whether you're applying for TL or TLT (you are allowed to apply for both). You are allowed to specific which position you'd like to fill on the TLT, but it is not required. Topic leaders and TLT members should have the following qualifications:

• Deep knowledge of the game of Pokemon
• Familiarity with competitive Pokemon concepts, strategy, and philosophy, as practiced within Smogon
• Willing to voice opinions and lead others
• Open-minded to new ideas
• Creative, "outside-of-the-box" thinker
• Good writing skills
• Level-headed when resolving disputes

Once this CAP starts, the Topic Leader and the Topic Leadership Team will be the most important, most visible members of the CAP community, and they are expected to be a strong guiding force throughout the creation process. If you are selected for any of these positions, you will have a great deal of power to influence the project. But you also have a responsibility to stay on top of things. You will have forum moderators to help you, but you need to be regularly active on the project until it is complete. All potential candidates should look through both the Topic Leadership Guide and the CAP Process Archive, to get an idea of what will be expected of you, if you are selected to be the Topic Leader or TLT member.

This thread is strictly for candidacy posts and posts supporting those candidates. Please stay on topic. Below are the guidelines for posting in this thread:

• Candidates will benefit from highlighting their active involvement throughout the duration of a recent CAP project. Involvement in multiple CAP projects is strongly preferred.
• Do not suggest other people. If you want you encourage someone else to run, then send them a PM or talk to them on the PS! CAP chatroom or the CAP Discord channel.
• If you are new to the CAP project, do not sign up in this thread. Instead, spend a project or two lurking, learning, and participating first.
• Include a summary of your involvement in the CAP project.
• Make a pitch for why you should be selected. If you can't present and defend yourself, then you can't expect to lead a project whose primary function is discussion and debate. Convince us that you are a good choice.
• Even if you don't think you are better qualified than certain other candidates, you still should consider posting your application. Candidates not selected as TL or TLT for this project will be on the watch list for next time around. Don't post your name if you don't intend to be active in the project, even if you are not selected, since people will be scrutinizing your involvement more closely.
• Feel free to post support for any candidates already named.
• Do not post disparaging remarks about any candidates.

If these rules are not followed, the offending user will be subject to moderation.

Applications will close on Friday, August 4th at 11:59PM GMT-4.

 

[Brown4Sides]

Hello, I am Brown4Sides, but I also go by Swordsorption and Yuuma Toutetsu. I am here today to apply for a TLT position. My preferences are Moves > Typing > Stats > Ability.

I started lurking shortly after the pandemic hit, during the middle of Astrolotl's process. I have been invested in and followed every project since then, but it wasn't until right before Chromera's process that I created a forum account, which I went on to only use for voting purposes. It wasn't until Pyroak's buff process in Gen 8 that I began to actively participate in discussions. I then went on to become a regular contributer for Saharaja's and Hemogoblin's processes.

My contributions include:

• Active on the forums, Discord server and Showdown room.
• My nomination for Astrolotl as a CAP Titan for the SS metagame won first place almost unanimously, with myself being the only holdout.
• Active participant in all competitive stages of CAP 31 and CAP 32 barring CAP 31's threats, as well as all CAP buff processes in Gen 8 barring Voodoom's.
• Participant in PRC discussions on the Discord server.
• My concept submission for CAP 32 "Trap Card" was slated.
• My name submission "Ababo" won, with my other name submissions for that line polling very well.
• I created a couple metagame project threads, including a Personal Viability Rankings thread, which I am very on top of, as well as a Player of the Fortnight thread.

And outside of CAP, I am loosely affiliated with the National Dex lower tiers, and participate in the Gen X Pet Mod.

In the time I have been on these forums, I have watched previous TLT members perform their duties, and have picked up from them on how to potentially be one myself. Because of this, I believe in my ability to lead discussions and listen to community input. And although this might not seem like much or seem irrelevant, I think leading Player of the Fortnight has been decent experience, as I have tasted what it is like to be in a directing position. While my tournament success and participation is admittedly low, I have watched almost every SV CAP replay from the most recent CAPPL, and I have an understanding of the metagame and how Pokemon mechanics work in general. I care about CAP and invest a lot of time into it, which is why I am applying for a TLT position. Even though I just started a part time job and my upcoming fall semester of college is my biggest yet, I can absolutely find the time for my TLT duties. Thank you for your consideration and good luck to all other candidates.

 

[Da Pizza Man]

Hello, I'm Da Pizza Man, and I'm running for TLT. My preference is Stats but I would personally be fine with any position.

My experience with CAP is quite extensive, albeit fairly sporadic. I discovered CAP during Malaconda's process and stuck around as a lurker until I finally decided to sign up for Smogon and participate right around when Volkraken's process started. Afterwards, I would continue to stick around in the community and participate in the processes for Plasmanta, Naviathan, and Crucibelle, forming a close bond with several members of the community and earning myself a Ladybug Badge in the process, until I eventually decided to leave Smogon due to having an increasingly busy schedule with school and a waning interest in Pokemon at the time. Several years later, due to having more free time on my hands thanks to my approaching graduation from college as well as a renewed interest in the game, I decided to rejoin this community that I once called home right around the time when Chromera's process was starting to wrap up. Since then, I have participated in the processes for both Venomicon and Saharaja, reacquainted myself with the community, and earned the badge that I had previously lost due to being away from Smogon for so many years. In terms of notable accomplishments I have made within the process, my biggest accomplishment would be submitting the winning stat spread for Venomicon-Prologue. Outside of that, however, I also had my stat submission for Saharaja slated, was a key player in getting Heatproof slated onto Saharaja's secondary ability poll, and played a significant role in helping determine Hemogoblin's stat limits.

In terms of my performance in the metagame as a whole, while I wouldn't really consider myself to be the best player around, I do think that I have a good number of significant accomplishments to my name. Some of my more notable accomplishments are getting to Semi-Finals for Saharaja's playtest, qualifying for the CAP 2022 Circuit Championships, and getting 5th/6th place in this year's fairly competitive circuit championships. In addition, I have also been drafted in CAP Team Tournaments multiple times, most recently being drafted to the Mollux Stocks for CAPPL IX, where I alongside Concept Everything did pretty much all of the building in SV, with me also being a key supporter in the SS slot, helping our team achieve a 10-5 and 6-3 record in those metagames respectively. I have also hosted numerous successful tournaments in CAP (SS LC Kickoff (w/ kjnjkmk1), SV CAP Kickoff (w/ SHSP), SS Rigged Tournament, and the CAP32 Playtest), have written multiple CAP Analyses, and I am currently an active member on CAP's QC team.

Overall, I think I'm more than qualified to take on the job off TLT for this process, and if I were to be voted in, I would do my best to make sure that whatever role I'm assigned to goes as smooth as possible. Regardless of whether or not I'm voted in however, I'm super excited for this process as a whole, and I will be participating as much as I can. Good luck to me and my fellow candidates, along with anybody who signs up for TL!

 

[Amamama]

Hello fellow Cappers!
I’m Amamama and I’m applying for a TLT position, preferably for any stage, that isn’t moves.

My interest in CAP first sparked through the art competition for Pajantom, where I worked on a design, which I never ended up posting because I was in awe with all the talent demonstrated during the stage.
My first actual contribution must have been art for Equilibra.
After that I was hooked.

While I entered mostly for art for Astrolotl, I also started participating in the competitive discussion and got more interested in actually playing CAP.
Since Astro I contributed in almost all stages of all following CAPs, with numerous posts on the forum and discussions on the discord.
My most lasting submissions are the winning STAT spread for Miasmaw (RIP and damn you Crown Tundra) and the first nerf for Ebook.
I play a lot of ladder and Roomtours and have played and build in various Team and Solo tours in the last Couple of years. Even though my success is mostly limited to ladder, I believe that my understanding of the CAP metagame is developed well enough to help lead a CAP to a successful competitive product.
Even if I first came for the art, I enjoy all aspects of CAP now. (except for movepools, I do not understand how they work).

Aside from the art contest, I definitely like the competitive discussions most though.
Any new Concept holds so much possibilities and I really enjoy discussing which way to go.
Exploring ideas, defending, expanding, refuting and sometimes abandoning them is, what makes this process so fun.
I like to challenge ideas, finding holes in arguments - mine or those of others - and to really examine the whats, hows and whys from all angles to come to a conclusion that is sound and includes the bigger picture.

I’m not here to make the perfect Pokémon.
I’m here to explore ideas, to discuss and to slowly but steadily chip away at the concept until we can shape something, that both helps us understand competitive Pokémon better through its process of creation, as well as being fun to build and play with.

Through all my experience with CAP I feel prepared to take that - you can call it obsession - further and lead the Community in these discussions, this search for understanding, this exploration.

 

[Darek]

Ok so basically

I'm Darek and I'll be running for TL for CAP33. I've been involved with CAP since Miasmaw's process, for which I submitted the winning Bug/Dragon typing, and since then have had submissions slated for a number of stages in subsequent processes. I served as Ability Leader for Saharaja's process, where I gained a lot of insight into how CAP is run from the leadership side. Specifically, I learned a lot from SHSP's TL style and hope to implement the practices I learned in my own work as TL. Following Saharaja's process and going into Hemogoblin's, I ended up posting less frequently than I have in previous CAP processes, instead choosing to focus on culminating my thoughts into longer posts on specific topics I cared about. Some posts that I'm particularly proud of were from Hemogoblin's Secondary Ability Discussion and Post Play Lookback 1.

Parallel to my involvement in the CAP Process, I've consistently been playing in the CAP metagame as well. In SS I made a name for myself as "the guy that always brings Miasmaw" and now in SV I've become "the guy that always brings Sun." I've been actively playing tours since my involvement with CAP, having played in every team tour since CAP Snake Draft in 2020, even serving as Assistant Manager for the winning Brazy Breezis in CAPCL. Although I stopped playing mons late into SS, I came back in SV making the finals of SV CAP Kickoff Tour and more recently going 5-1 in the SV slot for CAPPL under the Noble Naviathans. I even won the highly relevant, prestigious, and serious CAPvergence tour. In addition to playing in tours, I also was a member of the SS CAP VR team until I stopped playing SS, and very recently joined the SV VR team as well.

Outside of CAP, I don't really do too much but I recently undertook a data science project to investigate the association between Terastallization and a Pokemon's performance in-game. This project involved writing code to scrape data from replays and then running regressions on said data and analyzing the results. This project is still very much a work in progress as I try to get around potential biases in the data, but I hope to bring this sort of analytical lens into my work as TL and provide greater insight into our understanding of the game.

So yeah idk how to end this post but thank you for your consideration

 

[ausma]

Hello! For those of you who don't know me, my name is ausma; I'm an OU council member and contributor who has in the past year been getting increasingly involved with the CAP scene. Something a lot of people may not know about me is that I am a massive fanatic when it comes to dissecting Pokemon's many intricate mechanics as well as how they uniquely combine with one another. This is a huge reason I've been involved in the Pet Mods scene from time to time, and after much lurking, is why I've chosen to truly sink my teeth into CAP. Getting involved with the CAP process has been honestly wonderful; I've greatly enjoyed being able to partake in nuanced discussions regarding these mechanics and their interactions in the metagame landscape on the CAP Discord as well as being able to pitch my thoughts on each stage of the process to really immerse into it. Furthermore, after getting to know its community members, I feel extremely comfortable and welcome in this community.

I am here because after having spent a good deal of time getting involved with the CAP process, connecting with community members, and understanding how it works, I would like to take another step forward with my involvement in the CAP scene and apply for both TL and TLT. If I am to get TLT, I would personally favor Ability > Type >= Movepool > Stats.

1: My CAP qualifications

I've been intimately involved with two CAPs, those being Saharaja and Hemogoblin.

I frequently participated in discussions for every single one of Saharaja's competitive stages, either on the forum, the Discord, or both. I often attempted to make posts that brought new perspectives and angles onto the table regarding what kinds of options could benefit Saharaja and use my personal experience in creating and designing Pokemon and in my endeavors in OU/CAP laddering to aid in the process. On the Discord end of things, I have accrued around 4k lines in the CAP Discord server from Saharaja alone. While Saharaja was my first CAP project I was involved in, I believe I was a very strong and conducive contributor in its creation. If you want some examples of posts I am particularly proud of, you can find them below:

Movesets
Typing 1
Typing 2
Concept Assessment
Stat Submission
Primary Ability

Ever since my original application to lead the buffing process of Chromera, I've further fleshed out my CAP contributions with my involvement in Hemogoblin's process, being intricately involved in it even more than Saharaja. On the Discord I accrued yet another ~4k lines relating to each stage of its process, and made (in my opinion) even more in depth posts about my thoughts and feelings regarding popular ideas and even sharing more of my own this time around. I was also the main advocate of Fire/Fairy and I believe my submission and argument in its favor was a major contributor for its eventual typing which wound up being really good on it. More posts (including the typing submission) I'm proud of can be found below:

Concept Assessment 1
Concept Assessment 2
Typing Discussion 1
Typing Discussion 2
Primary Ability 1
Stat Submission
Defining Moves

Aside from the main CAP process, I've also contributed to the buffing process of Chromera, being one of the main advocates for a Dark/Normal retyping (1, 2) as well as making my own buff package. It may have not been slated but it was pretty damn close to the package that was both slated and won, so I'll take some solace in that.

To be clear, most of my contributions to the CAP community lie in the actual CAP creation process as opposed to direct metagame development. However, this is not to say that I am out of my depth, in fact far from it. I've been playing and closely following SV CAP since its inception on the ladder and am extremely familiar with its metagame, and have left my thoughts on some policies like the OU banlist equivalency, and I also have had some sparce tournament involvement when I've had the time (namely a couple CAPPLs ago). My experience as an OU council member and established player I believe also compound this and show that I have both mechanical understanding and skill in the game as a whole.

2: Why me?

I believe I am a very open thinker and leader; in fact, I feel this is among one of my most noteworthy strengths even aside from CAP. In the creation and discussion process, I see it as absolutely mandatory that every and all perspectives of varying experience are weighed and discussed, especially when it comes to parts of the process that are more nebulous and uncertain like throughout concept assessment. With this in mind, I would attempt to address and discuss ideas of all varieties with this process, but also be sure to balance that openness with experience. This is also represented through how I participated in Saharaja and Hemogoblin's processes; I often attempted to bring new ideas to the table, even ones that may appear impractical, often for the sake of perspective. I balanced this often by weighing practical options and exploring their potential actively, too.

Furthermore, I believe my personal experience as a leading figure and SV CAP's adjacent metagame in SV OU helps to demonstrate my capabilities in a leading position, even if my way of thinking is on the stranger side. Though, I see that as a strength here, and something that will actively set me apart from other candidates.

__

I hope this application helps put into perspective my experience, qualifications, and overall contributions to CAP! Thank you for considering me, and best of luck to the other candidates.

 

[dex]

I'm dex. I'm applying for TL. Woop Woop.

I've been heavily involved in CAP, both with the metagame and the process, since the beginning of CAP 28, Miasmaw. Since then, I have been on the TLT twice, leading Typing for CAPS 31 and 32, and been a member of CAP's VR team for the end of SS and the entirety of SV. Those who have spoken to me about CAP know that I am absolutely outspoken about my opinions, but I am very clear in that others should voice their own as well. While I do like to speak my mind, I have not let it impact my leadership roles during the process. During both Saharaja and Hemogoblin's typing stages, I actually wasn't a big fan of either of the winning typings, but I'm glad they made it through and that I gave them the chance! As a TL, I seek to make the playing field as level as possible and to make it as easy as possible to contribute meaningfully.

As for the competitive side, I know the CAP metagame extremely well and am capable of making judgements on it. I built with a high level of success in SV CAP as well during CAPPL, showcasing my awareness and understanding of the current metagame. I think this point is especially important now in the current, volatile metagame. Outside of CAP, I was on the OU VR team until time management struck and I am an official team rater for OU. I also was a member of Team US South during WCOP, which probably was the most eye-opening experience meta-wise I could ever get.

Outside all that, I have leadership experience in moderating Smogon's Social Media as well as the Spotlights forum.

I don't think this whole application should be too long, I've done a lot with CAP to this point and I think I'm well-known enough now that I don't need to repeat my accolades. I promise another fun process and good times if I'm voted in with bird facts for all.

 

[Zetalz]

Hi, I'm Zetalz, and I'll be running for TLT for CAP 33, with a preference order something like Typing = Ability > Moves > Stats. This won't be the longest app in the world because I'm currently battling an eye infection, so bear with me!

I joined the CAP community around CAP 25 Starters, and have since actively contributed to most main forum CAP projects, as well as PRCs, since CAP 26 Equilibra. I'm also quite active in the discord server. Though my winning contributions aren't many; winning name for CAP 30 Venomicon as well as the stats for both CAP 31 Saharaja and it's pre-evolution, I try to make an effort to contribute to every process I can in some form, even through IRL circumstances. I've got a good grip on the CAP metagame, and have participated in several CAP tours over the years, most notably being apart of the winning team for CAPPL VIII, the Storming Saharajas where I helped test and workshop teams (and most important, provide morale memes lol).

I like to make myself as approachable as possible to people, both in public settings such as the forum and discord server, as well as discord PMs. I've always enjoyed engaging in discussion with other users and I like to think of myself as someone who isn't afraid to challenge others on their ideas and perceptions, providing constructive criticism and helping them to better realize both their own vision, as well as the overall vision of the process. This applies to both competitive and flavor sides of the project.

Okay that's it because I seriously need to lie down lmao. If any of you considered me I would have the utmost gratitude, but even if not, I look forward to another fantastic CAP project. Already the TL/TLT applications look absolutely stacked, good luck to my fellow applicants!

 

[kenn]

Hello everyone! My name is kenn (not to be confused with ken or Kennedy) and I wanna apply to be on TLT with a preference to Ability > Typing > Movepool > Stats.

I am probably the freshest face applying so bear with me, but I wanna start off by saying that while I have been around for a short minute in terms of involvement with PS!/Smogon, I only joined CAP right around the time that CAP 32's typing was being discussed, even going so far as to hit the ground running by submitting my own typing and it making it onto the slate! While I didn't win, it was a huge moment in knowing that I felt I knew what I was talking about and others agreeing with me. I then proceeded to go on to diving in head first by making posts throughout the process such as this and this for the Ability stage, this and this for Stat Limits, submitting a stat spread that made it to the slate and even the final poll (!) as well as even participating in PRC discussion.

Outside of the process itself, I feel like my knowledge of the CAP metagame is above average as despite me not really been discussing anything in the metagame threads (mostly due to just not being on top of things and I don't always like being an echoer), I was a part of the winning team, the Vengeful Venomicons woop woop, for CAPPL IX, where I actively participated in teambuilding and discussion on how to improve teams and even participated in week 3 against the Naviathans and won my match (1-0 is still 100% win rate in CAPPL IX right? Right? lol) I am also a CAP Project room % on PS! and actively discuss team building and the viability of mons amongst all those that frequent the room. I also occasionally go on binges in the Discord to discuss all things CAP.

Outside of CAP itself, I have been a room @ in OMs and PG for a long while now and a room % in Mono for a shorter while, as well as being a global @, and I feel like I have actively participated in the behind-the-scenes things. Other non-CAP accolades include leading my OMPL team to semis alongside my amazing co-manager drampa's grandpa, leading 2 OMs (Full Potential and Bonus Type), managing my MOMPL team (the Befuddled Brelooms), and many more.

With all that said, I would love to be a part of the TLT for CAP 33 and hope you do choose me when the time comes! Thanks for your consideration! <3

 

[Scizivire]

Hey, I'm Scizivire and I'm signing up for the TLT, with a preference towards Typing or Ability.

I've been involved with CAP for a while now, lurking since Cawmodore and actively contributing towards the process since Jumbao. In terms of general posting, I've contributed to (almost?) every stage of the process at some point, be it through submissions or discussion. I've made slate a fair amount of times in the more competitively relevant stages, as well as making the winning submission for some flavor stages of former processes. As such I believe my knowledge of the CAP process is for sure good enough to handle a leading position. I'm fairly active and approachable on Discord as well so communication should not be an issue.

For the last process, CAP 32 Hemogoblin, I had the honour of representing the Ability Leader. I thoroughly enjoyed this process, and leading the ability stages and being part of the TLT there has definitely helped me understand the CAP process as a whole on an even deeper level. I know not everyone agrees that the ability stages were handled as well as they could've been but personally I think we made an interesting and viable end product nonetheless.

On the metagame side of things I've been quite active as well, participating in many of the more recent individual- and team tournaments. I was on the semifinalist team, the Heart Attack Hemogoblins, for the most recent edition of CAPPL and even though I did not get to play (shitout to spoo and D2TheW), I followed the tournament closely through watching and analyzing matches and replays as well as participating in teambuilding for a few slots. As for individual play this generation, I made it to semifinals of the CAP SV Kickoff Tour and more recently, quarterfinals of the CAP32 Playtest Tournament. Therefore I would say I have a good understanding of the current CAP metagame, what's being used for which purpose and which gaps there are to fill.

All that being said, I believe the competition in this thread so far sets a high bar and I think I can say with confidence that regardless of who get chosen we'll end up with yet another banger product.