Some thoughts regarding utility and coverage moves:
In general, we have lots of room to give CAP 31 strong utility moves, since we haven't used a ton of our power budget yet and the nature of being mono-Ground with Diamond Storm means we'll usually have another two slots free to do whatever.
Taunt is the closest thing to the perfect utility move here, protecting us against Toxic, stopping Defog and hazards alike, and potentially flipping around a lot of matchups we aren't especially scared of defensively but would otherwise be hard-pressed to break, like bulky waters and Corviknight. Most of our ground-type competitors also don't get the move (only Colossoil gets it, of the potentially relevant competition). This also helps us quite a bit in lead matchups, which is important if we get:
Hazards seem like another great choice here, if a bit safe. We get quite a few opportunities to switch in between our Electric and Water immunities and what we threaten out offensively. Many of CAP 31's C&Cs are defensive in nature, so being able to capitalize on those free turns with hazards is quite useful. Most ground types get Stealth Rock and I think we should too; it's the most ubiquitous hazard for a reason. I want to give a special shout to Spikes though: a defense boost from Diamond Storm gives us effectively free turns as physical attackers switch out or struggle to muscle past us, and given how we threaten many common defoggers, being able to set up multiple layers of hazards is enticing. Sticky Web is also an interesting option, but given the prevalence of boots and flying types, it might end up being little more than a gimmick. Still, it's a powerful and unique move that would set us apart from other prevalent Ground types in the tier. Toxic Spikes are probably the weakest option, as far as hazards go, due to the sheer number of things immune to it, but we do match up well into a lot of those things; still, I doubt it'd be run much if CAP 31 had any other hazard option.
Rapid Spin and Defog are also interesting options, particularly the former due to its speed boost playing well with Diamond Storm encouraging us to stay in; we can be a bit greedier if we've already boosted our speed. Both are powerful utility move options in general, which we're looking for.
I'm indifferent on Corrosive Gas. While it doesn't suffer from being nearly as anti-concept as Knock Off, it might end up niche. Still, removing items from the likes of Zapdos and Tornadus means they have a harder time defogging our rocks, if we get those, and helps us be just a general nuisance with our non-attacking moves.
Not a fan of Toxic because of how well it lines up into things we want CAP 31 to be Diamond Storming. I do like that it hits Landorus-Therian, though, who otherwise gets to switch in, Knock Off our item, or Toxic us if we don't carry Taunt, and leave without too much issue unless CAP 31 is monstrously powerful - a neutral, intimidated BP 100 coverage move isn't going to do all that much to its defensive sets.
Perhaps a better option to hit Landorus-T, among many others, is Glare, which is pretty high on the power side but seems pro-concept, making things that normally have a good time against Diamond Storm think twice. It also helps us set up late-game sweeps for ourself or allies, depending on how the stats turn out. If Glare would be too much (and it could be), Thunder Wave is a safer option.
Heal Bell and Aromatherapy are unconventional, but could give CAP 31 a clerical niche, which is pretty unique in offensive mons and ground types. I'm not the biggest fan, since users of these moves are usually brought in and then switched out soon after, which conflicts with the kind of playstyle Diamond Storm encourages, but with the right stats and moves it could be workable. I'd be higher on them if we wanted to heal Scald burns or Thunder Wave paralysis we suffered, but we're immune to that one.
Pivoting moves (U-turn, Volt Switch, Flip Turn, Parting Shot, Teleport) I think are anti-concept, since we can usually just click those instead of worrying about Diamond Storm. Especially Volt Switch, since it doubles as Electric coverage. They're also probably a lot.
As far as coverage goes:
Fire is the strongest type coverage we can get with Earthquake and Diamond Storm, hitting any number of thorns in CAP 31's side like Ferrothorn, Corviknight, and Equilibra. Make it too powerful, though, and we might see more sets dropping Diamond Storm in exchange for Fire + Ground coverage. Flare Blitz could be too powerful, depending on stats; though Diamond Storm would maintain a niche of hitting Zapdos and Torn-T and boosting Defense, both of which are great, we might see it dropped from quite a few more sets. More pro-concept is a weaker physical fire move in the 65-85 BP range (between Fire Fang and Blaze Kick), which answer Ferrothorn and Equilibra without making Diamond Storm unnecessary. Flame Charge is cute, but isn't really powerful enough to be worthwhile coverage, as it's barely stronger than Earthquake against Ferrothorn and Kartana and doesn't do that much to Libra.
A perhaps more unique option, and my personal favorite, is powerful special fire coverage, as suggested by spoo. Depending what the C&C list we want to maintain looks like, we can choose particular moves: a non-STAB physical attacker's Overheat can kill a Corviknight that switches in on Diamond Storm with significant chip or truly mixed attacking stats, but isn't spammable, while Fire Blast can potentially just muscle through pokemon like Libra and Corviknight without much support.
Fighting moves are also in a pretty good place for us, mostly used against Libra, Ferrothorn and Kartana. While Fire moves do this better, Fighting still complements our coverage well, and is less of a risk of overshadowing Diamond Storm because it still can't hit Flying (or Bug) types well. Body Press could be decent, depending on our Defense stat, but it's unlikely to be worth much before a boost, so it's dubious whether it'd be run over other strong moves of the type if CAP 31 gets any. It's certainly pro-concept, though.
Water coverage would also be fairly useful, hitting Landorus-T in particular harder than anything else we could pick (given Ice coverage being anti-concept.) It also hits Equilibra and uh, Colossoil and Rotom-H? Still, it helps us out against two of the things our STAB + Rock combination has the most trouble against. Crabhammer having a 1/8 to annihlate Landorus-T through intimidate is pretty neat, and if I tell myself I'm not saying that just because I think crabs are cool maybe I'll believe it one day. Powerful special water coverage could also be interesting to check Lando-T in particular, though I'd stay away from Scald because of its probable overlap with Diamond Storm and relatively low offensive muscle as a coverage move coming from an off-attacking stat with 80 BP.
Grass coverage also snags some relevant targets, and the type has powerful physical moves, but it feels for sure the weakest of the four. Its biggest strength is nailing bulky waters, turning a matchup that's slightly favored or a standoff into one that's very favored, but we could run utility moves like Taunt and hazards that let us be useful even in the face of walls instead.
In general, I doubt we need insane coverage, given our ground STAB + Diamond Storm combo, but a strong Fire move would add a lot of offensive power, allowing CAP 31 to blow through would-be checks, while other types, particularly Fighting and Water, are problem-solvers, allowing it to beat a few of its answers.
(This is my first post here on CAP and oops, I wrote a 4am essay. If I did something wrong, let me know so I can fix it in the future!)
In general, we have lots of room to give CAP 31 strong utility moves, since we haven't used a ton of our power budget yet and the nature of being mono-Ground with Diamond Storm means we'll usually have another two slots free to do whatever.
Taunt is the closest thing to the perfect utility move here, protecting us against Toxic, stopping Defog and hazards alike, and potentially flipping around a lot of matchups we aren't especially scared of defensively but would otherwise be hard-pressed to break, like bulky waters and Corviknight. Most of our ground-type competitors also don't get the move (only Colossoil gets it, of the potentially relevant competition). This also helps us quite a bit in lead matchups, which is important if we get:
Hazards seem like another great choice here, if a bit safe. We get quite a few opportunities to switch in between our Electric and Water immunities and what we threaten out offensively. Many of CAP 31's C&Cs are defensive in nature, so being able to capitalize on those free turns with hazards is quite useful. Most ground types get Stealth Rock and I think we should too; it's the most ubiquitous hazard for a reason. I want to give a special shout to Spikes though: a defense boost from Diamond Storm gives us effectively free turns as physical attackers switch out or struggle to muscle past us, and given how we threaten many common defoggers, being able to set up multiple layers of hazards is enticing. Sticky Web is also an interesting option, but given the prevalence of boots and flying types, it might end up being little more than a gimmick. Still, it's a powerful and unique move that would set us apart from other prevalent Ground types in the tier. Toxic Spikes are probably the weakest option, as far as hazards go, due to the sheer number of things immune to it, but we do match up well into a lot of those things; still, I doubt it'd be run much if CAP 31 had any other hazard option.
Rapid Spin and Defog are also interesting options, particularly the former due to its speed boost playing well with Diamond Storm encouraging us to stay in; we can be a bit greedier if we've already boosted our speed. Both are powerful utility move options in general, which we're looking for.
I'm indifferent on Corrosive Gas. While it doesn't suffer from being nearly as anti-concept as Knock Off, it might end up niche. Still, removing items from the likes of Zapdos and Tornadus means they have a harder time defogging our rocks, if we get those, and helps us be just a general nuisance with our non-attacking moves.
Not a fan of Toxic because of how well it lines up into things we want CAP 31 to be Diamond Storming. I do like that it hits Landorus-Therian, though, who otherwise gets to switch in, Knock Off our item, or Toxic us if we don't carry Taunt, and leave without too much issue unless CAP 31 is monstrously powerful - a neutral, intimidated BP 100 coverage move isn't going to do all that much to its defensive sets.
Perhaps a better option to hit Landorus-T, among many others, is Glare, which is pretty high on the power side but seems pro-concept, making things that normally have a good time against Diamond Storm think twice. It also helps us set up late-game sweeps for ourself or allies, depending on how the stats turn out. If Glare would be too much (and it could be), Thunder Wave is a safer option.
Heal Bell and Aromatherapy are unconventional, but could give CAP 31 a clerical niche, which is pretty unique in offensive mons and ground types. I'm not the biggest fan, since users of these moves are usually brought in and then switched out soon after, which conflicts with the kind of playstyle Diamond Storm encourages, but with the right stats and moves it could be workable. I'd be higher on them if we wanted to heal Scald burns or Thunder Wave paralysis we suffered, but we're immune to that one.
Pivoting moves (U-turn, Volt Switch, Flip Turn, Parting Shot, Teleport) I think are anti-concept, since we can usually just click those instead of worrying about Diamond Storm. Especially Volt Switch, since it doubles as Electric coverage. They're also probably a lot.
As far as coverage goes:
Fire is the strongest type coverage we can get with Earthquake and Diamond Storm, hitting any number of thorns in CAP 31's side like Ferrothorn, Corviknight, and Equilibra. Make it too powerful, though, and we might see more sets dropping Diamond Storm in exchange for Fire + Ground coverage. Flare Blitz could be too powerful, depending on stats; though Diamond Storm would maintain a niche of hitting Zapdos and Torn-T and boosting Defense, both of which are great, we might see it dropped from quite a few more sets. More pro-concept is a weaker physical fire move in the 65-85 BP range (between Fire Fang and Blaze Kick), which answer Ferrothorn and Equilibra without making Diamond Storm unnecessary. Flame Charge is cute, but isn't really powerful enough to be worthwhile coverage, as it's barely stronger than Earthquake against Ferrothorn and Kartana and doesn't do that much to Libra.
A perhaps more unique option, and my personal favorite, is powerful special fire coverage, as suggested by spoo. Depending what the C&C list we want to maintain looks like, we can choose particular moves: a non-STAB physical attacker's Overheat can kill a Corviknight that switches in on Diamond Storm with significant chip or truly mixed attacking stats, but isn't spammable, while Fire Blast can potentially just muscle through pokemon like Libra and Corviknight without much support.
Fighting moves are also in a pretty good place for us, mostly used against Libra, Ferrothorn and Kartana. While Fire moves do this better, Fighting still complements our coverage well, and is less of a risk of overshadowing Diamond Storm because it still can't hit Flying (or Bug) types well. Body Press could be decent, depending on our Defense stat, but it's unlikely to be worth much before a boost, so it's dubious whether it'd be run over other strong moves of the type if CAP 31 gets any. It's certainly pro-concept, though.
Water coverage would also be fairly useful, hitting Landorus-T in particular harder than anything else we could pick (given Ice coverage being anti-concept.) It also hits Equilibra and uh, Colossoil and Rotom-H? Still, it helps us out against two of the things our STAB + Rock combination has the most trouble against. Crabhammer having a 1/8 to annihlate Landorus-T through intimidate is pretty neat, and if I tell myself I'm not saying that just because I think crabs are cool maybe I'll believe it one day. Powerful special water coverage could also be interesting to check Lando-T in particular, though I'd stay away from Scald because of its probable overlap with Diamond Storm and relatively low offensive muscle as a coverage move coming from an off-attacking stat with 80 BP.
Grass coverage also snags some relevant targets, and the type has powerful physical moves, but it feels for sure the weakest of the four. Its biggest strength is nailing bulky waters, turning a matchup that's slightly favored or a standoff into one that's very favored, but we could run utility moves like Taunt and hazards that let us be useful even in the face of walls instead.
In general, I doubt we need insane coverage, given our ground STAB + Diamond Storm combo, but a strong Fire move would add a lot of offensive power, allowing CAP 31 to blow through would-be checks, while other types, particularly Fighting and Water, are problem-solvers, allowing it to beat a few of its answers.
(This is my first post here on CAP and oops, I wrote a 4am essay. If I did something wrong, let me know so I can fix it in the future!)
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