Core Laddering Challenge - CAP Edition [ON HOLD]

Approved by HeaLnDeaL

Core Laddering Challenge

~ CAP Edition ~

Welcome to the first ever CAP Core Laddering Challenge! Each week, the aim is to ladder as high as you can, scoring points depending on how high you get and where you place compared to everyone else. However, there's a catch - you must use one of the week's two cores, labelled A to D, on your team! The points you earn each week will be added to your total and affect your position on the leader board.​

Points:
Points are awarded immediately when you reach a certain Elo mark. The points you are awarded for this depend on the difficulty of the core! !! To claim your points, you must post the replay of the battle you achieved the benchmark as well as the benchmark you achieved. !!


Core ranks:
Each core will be given a rank, either *, **, or ***. This will be determined by the core's difficulty, viability of its archetype and its matchup against the week's other core.
Bronze - 1300 Elo - 15 points
Silver - 1400 Elo - 30 points
Gold - 1500 Elo - 45 points
Platinum - 1550 Elo - 60 points
Bronze - 1300 Elo - 25 points
Silver - 1400 Elo - 40 points
Gold - 1500 Elo - 55 points
Platinum - 1550 Elo - 70 points
Bronze - 1300 Elo - 35 points
Silver - 1400 Elo - 50 points
Gold - 1500 Elo - 65 points
Platinum - 1550 Elo - 80 points
Points are awarded at the end of the week for overall place on the ladder:
  • Highest position: 20 points
  • Second Position: 10 points
  • Third Position: 5 points
The winner of each week will be added to the Hall of Fame along with their final Elo score!​
Rules:
  • To participate, simply post with the name of the alts you use during the week. This post may be edited at any time with new alts, and is also the post you should edit with any Elo achievements.
  • Any alts you use must include 'CLC' (Core Laddering Challenge), the week number and the letter of the core you are using on that alt - for example, if in week 1 I wanted to use the 'A' core, my alt could be 'Kyubics CLC1 A'.
  • This means you have to make a new alt each week - alts from previous weeks will not count! It is also recommended that you make a new post each week with your new alts and achievements.
  • You must use the core you specify in your alt when laddering! If you are caught breaking this rule, you will be penalised and may be banned from participating in future weeks.
  • Anyone who notices a breach of the above rule must take a screenshot as evidence and PM it on Smogon to me, Kyubics, where it will be dealt with independently.
  • You may have as many alts as you like, each using one of either of the cores. However, if you do not register an alt in your post, it will not be counted.
  • In addition, you may only achieve Elo points once per core - the highest rank you have posted will be counted.
  • Only your highest alt will count in the placing at the end of the week, irrespective of the core.
  • You may not ask your opponent for a free win or forfeit. If caught doing this, you may be banned from participating in future weeks.
  • Ties in Elo on the ladder will be decided by GXE. If it is still a tie, the result will be randomly decided.
  • If a participant has two or more alts that would be included in a week's top three, only the first will count and any others will be ignored.
  • I will not be checking on the ladder for people who have achieved Elo benchmarks so if you do not post, you won't get the points. You may also not claim points from weeks that have already ended.
  • I will try to assess the ladder as close to the specified time as I can, but I cannot guarantee that it will 100% exact. If you believe that you have changed position between me checking the ladder and the specified time in such a way that points would be awarded differently, please PM a screenshot of the ladder with the time clearly visible to me so I can make adjustments if necessary. Any attempt to abuse this and augment results will be punished.
  • Using both cores on the same team means you get the points for the higher rank.
 
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Leader board


1. Sparktrain ~ 240
2. Airwind ~ 55
3. Heaven Jay ~ 45
=4. Jho ~ 10
=4. Rat With Wings ~ 10

6. Reachzero ~ 5

Hall of Fame


Week 1

sparktrain ~ 1463 Elo

Week 2

sparktrain ~ 1405 Elo

Week 3

sparktrain ~ 1374 Elo

Week 4

sparktrain ~ 1413 Elo


Core A

Rank *


A classic weather core, Pelipper supports Mega Swampert by proving rain to boost its speed through Swift Swim. Get creative building around a well-known and powerful archetype!


Core B

Rank **


Have a go at experimenting with the new updates with this core! Malaconda and Heatran have good offensive and defensive synergy (except for the Fighting weakness) but have a poor matchup against this week's other core and can fall to powerful physical attackers. Maybe you can try using Malaconda's new ability with this core...


Core A

Rank *


Mega Charizard Y is an incredibly potent wallbreaker, and Dugtrio supports it well by trapping Pokemon like Mollux, Heatran, Tyranitar and Chansey.


Core B

Rank *


Naviathan received powerful new tools in the recent updates, and Landorus-T supports its sweep by luring Pokemon like Tomohawk, Pyroak and Ferrothorn, either weakening them or outright KOing them.


Core C

Rank **


A well known pink blob stall core, try to create a new version of the OU 'Double Defog Stall' in CAP!

Core D

Rank ***


Muk can take Psychic attacks for Keldeo while Keldeo can deal with Steel types for Muk. Keldeo also appreciates the Pursuit support that Muk offers.​


Core A
Rank *


A well-known balance core, Heatran and Tapu Bulu have great type synergy - Heatran deals with Fire and Steel types for Bulu while Bulu takes Water and Ground attacks for Heatran - and Heatran appreciates the Grassy Terrain support Bulu provides.

Core B


Rank **


This core can spam powerful Water type attacks while also having immense utility and flexibility with VoltTurn. Krilowatt can pivot out of the Grass and Steel types which check it while Volkraken can do the same for Water types, wearing them down. However, it struggles against bulky walls like Pyroak and Chansey.

Core C


Rank **


Sand is used less in CAP due to the omnipresence of Tomohawk, but, as this core has a good match up against the previous two, maybe you could give it a go!

Core D


Rank ***


Mega Beedrill is a threat to more offensive teams but struggles with bulkier ones. It provides free switches with U-Turn for Crawdaunt to come in and dismantle these more defensive teams.


Core A

Rank *


Mega Pinsir is a stellar offensive mega and is supported well by Magnezone, which can both remove Skarmory and Celesteela and deal with some of Pinsir's revenge killers in Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele.

Core B


Rank *


This fat balance core has amazing defensive synergy: Magearna can take Flying, Fairy, Psychic and some Electric attacks for Arghonaut whereas Arghonaut can take Fire type attacks and physical hits in general that Magearna can't handle.

Core C


Rank **


This core utilises Electric Terrain to overwhelm the opponent with Electric type attacks. Plasmanta can also deal with the Grass types that Koko struggles with but you must be sure to include a lure for Ground types that are immune to the pair's most powerful attacks.

Core D


Rank **


Tapu Fini provides Defog support for Mega Aerodactyl while also taking on Water types like Ash-Greninja and Choice Scarf Keldeo which give it trouble. Aerodactyl deals with Grass types like Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur.

This week ends on Saturday 5th August at 6pm EDT.

Can anyone beat sparktain, who has stretched an impressive lead? Good luck to all!
 
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Offler CLC A 1
Core B
1550 points worth of games on cap ladder in a week? Hold my beer boys queue times are coming
If you want to use Core B you need 'CLC B' in your alt. Sorry if that wasn't clear :)
To clarify:
You can use Core A in alts labelled CLC A and Core B in alts labelled CLC B so you can use both cores during the course of the week but on separate alts. Using both on the same team means you get the points for the higher rank.
 

reachzero

the pastor of disaster
is a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
A fundamental flaw with the challenge as currently implemented is the fact that there are only two cores, using directly opposing themes, no less. Since every participant is by definition using one of these two cores, there is little incentive to build to beat the ordinary metagame, only to beat these two cores. With only two cores, this effective becomes the "counterteam challenge". In my opinion, this concept would work far more fluidly if there were 5-7 cores to choose from.
 
I second what reachzero is saying, but offer a different solution. While counterteaming is pretty common, I don't think we need more cores, just ones that don't directly conflict with each other. I believe that your decision to pick to weather cores, has lead to a lot of counterteaming because of that. I've never seen a hp electric zard y in my life outside of tour play, but it seems to of become a standard in cap within a week, so much so that I started running it myself.
 
A fundamental flaw with the challenge as currently implemented is the fact that there are only two cores, using directly opposing themes, no less. Since every participant is by definition using one of these two cores, there is little incentive to build to beat the ordinary metagame, only to beat these two cores. With only two cores, this effective becomes the "counterteam challenge". In my opinion, this concept would work far more fluidly if there were 5-7 cores to choose from.
I completely understand where you're coming from here, and although I am willing to increase the number of cores each week to something like 4/5, I don't think that building creatively against a common core is necessarily a bad thing. Sure, you have to cteam the other core, but the competition drives creativity by participants adapting to what is being done to counter their core. You could think outside the box and, just off the top of my head, run Sunny Day on your Heatran to stop Pelipper coming freely in and setting the rain. In a way, this situation simulates acceleration metagame trends - how one thing reacts and adapts to another. I know this probably sounds a bit over-imaginative, but overall the competition is as much about inventive teambuilding as battling skill. I encourage you to not stick within the 'traditional' confines of a rain team, but have some fun and experiment - that's surely one of my favourite things about playing Pokémon. But yeah, there will be more cores next week :p

Edit: greninja'd by Frat Dude, I appreciate the feedback and I'll try to change that next week
 
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