How did it feel to work with a more defensively-oriented concept? Do you think that we succeeded in exploring the relationship Speed has with defense? What did we learn from attempting it, regardless of if we succeeded?
I think this exploration has been really cool and has yielded one of the most organic cap mons we have made so far.
Making a Mon that gets by with a select few great characteristics and tools felt refreshing. Discussion felt much more focused working with a concept exploring teambuilding and gameplay roles instead of mechanics.
I think the takeaway is, that we shouldn’t shy away from strictly defensive concepts as CAP seemingly has in the past.
Which of Cresceidon's tools play the biggest role in shaping its relationship with its speed? How effective are they in the context of the metagame?
To the surprise of no one fast speed control via thunder wave is Cresceidons best tool. In conjunction with Multiscale it makes Cresc a great stopgap to would be sweepers.
At the same time to use this effectively it requires clever play and a team that can take advantage of sweepers speed cut in half.
In the current Meta this ability to serve as a safety measure against multiple threatening offensive mons has proven invaluable and has helped diversify Teams away from the standard balance core of venom, Libra , argh of previous metagames.
On the downside we have seen complains about the uncompetitiveness of Para Hax, which aren’t entirely out of place, considering how easily Cresc inflicts this status.
Cresceidon's presence in the metagame healthy, or does it disrupt balance? What components of Cresceidon's design contribute to your beliefs the most, and why?
Even then I believe Cresc is almost entirely balanced and another healthy centralizing addition to the CAP meta, that makes it so much more enjoyable than OU.
Do Cresceidon's access to several different matchup-defining utility moves and two major competitive abilities contribute to your stance on its health? Is this worth noting for future processes?
Honestly I think none of the tools it has access to are superfluous in an unhealthy way. You probably could cut anything that isn’t Multiscale Moonblast, Water Stab, Thunderwave and Recover (I hope no one is considering a typing change) and it would still be a very good Mon to use. But having a bit of diversity to be able to slot on different teams isn’t the worst. I feel like with Cresc we’ve hit very close to a sweet spot considering the number of strong tools.
Because Cresceidon has had to yield many metagame shifts, how do you believe it has adapted to the DLCs holistically? Do these adaptations teach us anything about the nature of defense in turbulent metagames?
Opting for a concoction of several Generally good tools has helped future proof Cresc a lot. I am sure it will continue to be a great option for different team styles through any Metagame shift. Tbh in a lower power environment I could see Cresc being overturned even. I think starting with a great neutral defensive typing, combined with tools that offer several important niches for teambuilding is a pretty safe recipe to make a defensive Mon that will hold up to any meta shift (looking at mons like Ferrothorn, Gliscor or Skarmory, which have been staples on bulkier and more balanced teams in almost forever, thanks to their typing and utility)
Do you feel that the process adapted well to the influx of changes brought by the Teal Mask? How did we do compared to Miasmaw, whose process was infamously disrupted by the Gen 8 DLCs?
I think the nature of the concept helped a lot as having a clear(er) goal to work towards to helped with focus of discussion and consensus on where to move with the project.
I do think that the changes we’ve made to the process after Miasmaw have helped a lot in handling DLC meta shifts (although tbf we’ve also opted for much more cohesive and generally good options after Miasmaw, which itself in part was conceived as a reaction to the previous mostly overtuned processes).
It definitely will be interesting to see if it’s possible to work with more niche ideas and still have them adapt well to DLC shifts.
What were your favorite and least favorite stages of the process? Why? How can we apply the process's strengths into future processes and learn from its weak points?
Tbh with how focused the concept was discussions were still fine, but having almost anyone on board with the preferred options from the start of the stages didn’t spur the most interesting and rewarding conversations.
For that reason Typing was certainly the most interesting decision as it was what set the tone for the rest of the stages.
Having a meta with several highly volatile threats definitely influenced the discussion a lot and Cresc concept and execution almost feels like a fix the meta product, though we’ve managed to achieve this without making a Mon that would fall out of favor with a dlc shift, which definitely is a cool result.
- How smoothly did the process go? Were there any particularly stressful pressure points that impeded the process, in your opinion?
- What is the main takeaway for you from Cresceidon's process?
Honestly the process was as smooth as butter melting in your hands.
Having a Goal (role() to work towards to instead of a characteristic to build upon seems to make it easier to create a wholistic result. Though I also think that how we handled the process is a direct result from learning from Miasmaws mistakes and how knowing how DLCs can impact hyper focused ideas as opposed to more generally good builds.
