CAP Updates: Stratagem Discussion (Complete)

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Accelerock. Stratagem is Accelerock: the Pokemon. In terms of STAB, there actually aren't many new Rock-type moves, though Smack Down is a TM that many Rock-types get.

As far as other consistency moves go, Bulldoze should be added due to nearly perfect move-to-move correlation with Earthquake. Every Pokemon that learns Fire Blast was able to learn Incinerate as a past gen TM, and so should Stratagem. Like it was for Cyclohm and Krilowatt, Swagger is missing from Stratagem's movepool despite being a universal TM, so we should correct that.
 
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snake

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Dazzling Gleam should be added if there's no real competitive impact. Many floating Rocks, Carbink and Diancie in particular, remind me of Stratagem. I'll be doing some calcs to make sure it's ok.

Accelerock is cool.

Bulldoze is implied by Earthquake.

Iron Head and Zen Headbutt should be added because they are easy-to-get tutor moves, and it gets Headbutt and Head Smash. I'm not sure if there's a true correlation between any of those moves though.

I like the idea of Leech Life Stratagem, and it gets Giga Drain anyways.
 

LucarioOfLegends

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Pretty sure its a crime to not give it Accelerock. I mean just look at it.

Bulldoze is move-to-move, same with Incinerate. Smack Down actually makes sense based on its design, cause it could smack Pokemon out of the sky using its body. Laser Focus also makes incredible amounts of sense to give to Stratagem, as it acts as focused, intelligent Pokemon. Agree with Dazzling Gleam if the calcs support it as flavor, although I doubt it because it hits Fighting types for it. Smart Strike works because although t doesn't have horns, it has those big rock scythes for limbs, and Excavalier has a similar circumstance. Just my thoughts,
 

snake

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Pretty sure its a crime to not give it Accelerock. I mean just look at it.

Bulldoze is move-to-move, same with Incinerate. Smack Down actually makes sense based on its design, cause it could smack Pokemon out of the sky using its body. Laser Focus also makes incredible amounts of sense to give to Stratagem, as it acts as focused, intelligent Pokemon. Agree with Dazzling Gleam if the calcs support it as flavor, although I doubt it because it hits Fighting types for it. Smart Strike works because although t doesn't have horns, it has those big rock scythes for limbs, and Excavalier has a similar circumstance. Just my thoughts,
If Sniper wins the poll, I'd rather not see Laser Focus, as abusing crits was not the intention of the ability.

EDIT @ below post: Stratagem already makes Syclant's life miserable by outspeeding. You're also using it off of Base 60 Attack.
 
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The Hidden Ability has not ended yet, but since the winning ability probably won't have an impact on moves, we might as well start our Consistency Move discussion now.

What moves from Generations 5-7 should Stratagem receive due to its typing or design?

Moves from Generation 4 or earlier are allowed as well, but the movepool update should focus more on newer moves. Note that Round and Confide will be required because they are universal TM moves.
Some food for tought:

Zen Headbutt - I did say that I will bring it up ! Again........how can you smash your head into a foe with ridiculous force, but can't concentrate some energy into your head to give a not so devastating headbutt? That would be like Entei not being able to learn Earthquake........oh wait it doesn't.

As for other moves:

Iron Head - works with Zen Headbutt

Flame Charge - it's a fast traveling space rock, what happens when you collide into a planet's atmosphere?

Bulldoze - EQ's not so successful brother

Dazzling Gleam - idk why, but I guess to go with Power Gem ? And also because Carbink and Minior.

Lazer Focus - you're pretty much waisting a turn trying to bait for a crit, turn which your opponent can just switch out. So I don't see the problem.

Accelrock - I really want to say it, but on one hand we have Technician and on the otjer I don't want to make Syclant's life miserable.
 

jas61292

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Accelerock is not a good idea at all. It is a signature move of a brand new physically offensive Pokemon. Signature moves in general are not good flavor, but especially ones that are for gen 7 Pokemon, as they haven't even had the time to be signature yet. Furthermore, its not like "fast rock" automatically means you get that move. Aerodactyl is just as fast as Stratagem (faster if Mega), and a physical attacker, and it doesn't have it.

What's more, with Stratagem having Technician, and having STAB on the move, its not even possible to say its completely non-competitive. With LO it can OHKO Volcarona, who, if it gets a QD, would otherwise outspeed and easily OHKO with Giga Drain. And it also could land solid hits on Mega Beedrill, Aurumoth, Charizard-X, Volkraken, and a few other Pokemon who would otherwise outspeed, whether naturally, scarfed, or boosted. Now, I'm not going to say that this is going to have a major impact on the metagame, but I do think it is a significant effect for something that already has very dubious flavor to begin with. We should really just stay away.

As far as other moves, I fully agree with Bulldoze, Incinerate, Iron Head and Zen Headbutt. Smack Down, which was also mentioned, would be a nice addition as well.
 

Deck Knight

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The thing with Accelerock is, in order to use it you have to be running Life Orb Tech or it isn't worth much. The set would likely look something like Accelerock / Ancient Power / Fire Blast / Giga Drain, and Accelock would only find very, very niche uses (though with an AP Boost it'd be more troublesome late-game. Stratagem *could* pull it off by sacrificing Earth Power and its Ground immunity, but it's safe to say Accelrock is a best a slash on one set, not a defining new element. (BUT WHAT ABOUT CHOICE BAND HEAD SMASH)
 

OLD GREGG (im back baby)

old gregg for life
My two cents, for what its worth:

Accelrock is overkill on Lycanrock, a blistering 112 speed cant do too much with a priority move. I tend to think thats why it make sense for the fast Lycanroc only to have access to it. Has Sand Rush already, what harm will priority do?


This is my main line of reasoning for agreeing with accelrock. Strategem is already going to be faster than the overwhelming majority of stuff that is weak to this move. Now, I said I support accelrock, and I do, just not one hundred percent. More like 80 percent. There are times when an accelrock might actually completely change the tide of a game, think during a volcarona or char-x sweep. These are situations where having super effective priority make a huge difference and should be expanded upon before a yay or nay imo. This is all despite the fact that accelrock is a signature move only distributed to one pokemon. I can see strategem having access to this because of how fast it is, but ... im hesitant to back it to the fullest because some of the best set-up sweepers in OU are Rock weak and if you want to revenge +1 speed threats, it makes sense to have to use a scarf to do so, in other words:
Should strategem be able to revenge kill already boosted Rock weak pokemon without a choiced item or boost?
 
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You aren't going to be stopping any sweeps with a weak 60 atk and a 40 bp move. An extreme speed can do that job, but even better as it doesn't suck.

0 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcanion: 96-117 (31.8 - 38.8%) -- 96.4% chance to 3HKO
 

snake

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Stratagem @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Accelerock
- Ancient Power
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Fire Blast

I guess this would be the set to run with Accelerock.

4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 317-380 (101.9 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 270-328 (90.9 - 110.4%) -- 50% chance to OHKO (Flame Charge)

(252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Stratagem: 180-212 (56 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO)
4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 192-234 (70.8 - 86.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gyarados: 135-164 (40.7 - 49.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Volkraken: 135-164 (39.4 - 47.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 104-125 (35 - 42%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Alakazam-Mega: 79-95 (31.4 - 37.8%) -- 93.4% chance to 3HKO
4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 24 HP / 0 Def Aurumoth: 112-135 (30.5 - 36.7%) -- 67% chance to 3HKO
4 Atk Life Orb Technician Stratagem Accelerock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja-Ash: 78-94 (27.3 - 32.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO (in case AshGren is locked into something other than Water Shuriken)

Standard Technician Strata except Accelerock makes HP Ice and Fire Blast a choice. It can certainly help out in a few late-game scenarios when both Stratagem and certain +1 sweepers or priority users are lower on health, but I'm not sure how worth of a moveslot it is. I'd say OO in an analysis.
 

jas61292

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I mean... yeah, its niche. I just don't see though how a new signature move is good flavor, especially when it also has competitive implications. Every gen 7 Pokemon has some signature thing. If Stratagem had Accelerock, then Lycanroc would be the only gen 7 Pokemon without a signature thing. That's bad flavor, in my opinion; it doesn't matter how fast or whatever Stratagame is.

EDIT @ Below: I meant to say each family. Chargabug has Battery. And I was only talking about new Pokemon, not Alola forms.
 
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I think the signature move counterargument has become rather washed out since Gen VI started giving them to new Mons like candy. Accelerock has no distinct flavor correlation to Lycanroc in the way that a move like Beak Blast does. The move is just slamming into the opponent at high speed like a rock, which Stratagem can do because it is literally a fast-moving rock. To answer jas, Vikavolt and the Alolan Rattata, Sandshrew, Vulpix, and Meowth lines don't have anything exclusive to them.

There's not much else this rock can do, unfortunately. Its movepool is quite shallow and it already does well with it.
 

snake

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There's also the issue of where you're going to put Accelrock in the movepool. Stratagem cannot breed, so the only place it could go is Level Up, and that's where the moves that define a Pokemon's design go. Is that really what we want - to put Accelerock in its Level Up pool when it's such a new sig of another Pokemon? If it were a sig move from Gen 5, for example, it'd be much more comfortable placing it in its Level Up pool, and if Stratagem could breed I'd be fine with it regardless because an egg move is much less defining than a level up move, flavorwise anyways.
 
(Apologies in advance if this is a tangent; mods, GLs, or UL can feel free to remove or edit this post)

Even though egg groups were implemented in the same generation as their corresponding CAPs, why was Stratagem unable to breed? Shouldn't it belong to the genderless part of the Mineral Egg Group? Most (non-Legend) inanimate object Pokémon belong to Mineral in the official series, especially if they're genderless. Staryu, Starmie, and Rotom are the exceptions, as they belong to Water 3 and Amorphous, respectively. None of the CAPs are actually Legendary, and the other 21 CAPs can breed without any problem. I just thought I'd put this here for those who care.

To make this post relevant to Accelerock, I think Gem would best have it in its level-up movepool anyway. Lycanroc only belongs to Field, so there would be no point in making Accelerock an Egg Move for any non-Field mons.
 
There's also the issue of where you're going to put Accelrock in the movepool. Stratagem cannot breed, so the only place it could go is Level Up, and that's where the moves that define a Pokemon's design go. Is that really what we want - to put Accelerock in its Level Up pool when it's such a new sig of another Pokemon? If it were a sig move from Gen 5, for example, it'd be much more comfortable placing it in its Level Up pool, and if Stratagem could breed I'd be fine with it regardless because an egg move is much less defining than a level up move, flavorwise anyways.
This, more than any other argument would be enough to sway me to not support Accelerock, but at the same time, a literal sling bullet of a Pokemon is quite likely to be the very archetypal one to use Accelerock.

I think the question is 'if Accelerock was present during the initial creation of Stratagem, would it have gained it?' I personally think the answer is yes, although cannot say for sure.

Maybe have it as a Level 1 only move, and it needs 'unlocking'.

I disagree that pokemon have to have an arbitrary snowflake uniqueness to define flavour; or perhaps rather that flavour of a mon shouldn't be defined by its individual access to a single move, save perhaps the Legendary Pokemon, which by definition are legendary and havung a signature is entirely their thing.

Gen 1 mons on the whole don't have Signature Moves, and yet they are perfectly flavoursome and have a role within the game. Looking at the 1760 rankings, it's not as though Lycanroc is considered viable by the meta anyway.

I've got arguments for and against, and the primary one is that it wouldn't fit in a level up list - except that I believe it does.

YMMV, but I believe that at least it should go to poll to see what the consensus on whether or not it should be included (yes = req'd, no.= banned). Of course, not telling PL how to run it.
 
There's also the issue of where you're going to put Accelrock in the movepool. Stratagem cannot breed, so the only place it could go is Level Up, and that's where the moves that define a Pokemon's design go. Is that really what we want - to put Accelerock in its Level Up pool when it's such a new sig of another Pokemon? If it were a sig move from Gen 5, for example, it'd be much more comfortable placing it in its Level Up pool, and if Stratagem could breed I'd be fine with it regardless because an egg move is much less defining than a level up move, flavorwise anyways.
I agree with you on Accelerock not quite fitting on Stratagem's movepool (design-wise it fits perfectly, but it is so new that it can't really be a level-up move), but there might be another possibility: Events.
As weird as it is to give CaPs event exclusive moves, Kerfluffle does have 4 event exclusive moves, so it's not impossible. Also, some Pokemon have gotten signature moves via events like the Gen 2 Lovely Kiss events or most of Victini's events or V-Create Rayquaza. Overall, it's not really that crazy to give Stratagem via event move, whilst still having it as Lycanroc signature move (it still would be by technicality).
 

Deck Knight

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The only thing really "signature" about Accelerock is it's typing and the fact it has low PP for a priority move. Oherwise it's Rock-type Quick Attack. It has 6 or 7 clones, and Statagem already has access to Vacuum Wave, the special clone counterpart.

Lets say we made Syclant or Aurumoth in Gen 2. Would they have received Megahorn, Heracross's signature move?

Maybe, maybe not. In Gen 2 for Bug damaging attacks your choices were Pin Missile, Twinneedle, and Megahorn and that last jump was huge.

Whereas Accelerock has functional clones of 6 different types (AJ, BP, IS, MP, QA, SS, VW) which combined have a fairly wide distribution.

What is also notable is Lycanroc Midday itself breaks a lot of conventions for Rock types, being fast, offensive, and frail rather than slow and defensive. It kind of "Breaks the Mold" in its own way.

I think the best resolution method would be to poll it. Requiring it seems a bit too much given the newness of the move, but it neither overpowers competitively nor gives Stratagem a method of play (priority revenge killing) that is uncommon or unprepared for.
 
The only thing really "signature" about Accelerock is it's typing and the fact it has low PP for a priority move. Oherwise it's Rock-type Quick Attack. It has 6 or 7 clones, and Statagem already has access to Vacuum Wave, the special clone counterpart.

Lets say we made Syclant or Aurumoth in Gen 2. Would they have received Megahorn, Heracross's signature move?

Maybe, maybe not. In Gen 2 for Bug damaging attacks your choices were Pin Missile, Twinneedle, and Megahorn and that last jump was huge.

Whereas Accelerock has functional clones of 6 different types (AJ, BP, IS, MP, QA, SS, VW) which combined have a fairly wide distribution.

What is also notable is Lycanroc Midday itself breaks a lot of conventions for Rock types, being fast, offensive, and frail rather than slow and defensive. It kind of "Breaks the Mold" in its own way.

I think the best resolution method would be to poll it. Requiring it seems a bit too much given the newness of the move, but it neither overpowers competitively nor gives Stratagem a method of play (priority revenge killing) that is uncommon or unprepared for.
I'm fine with this going to poll, but this logic really irks me. If I understand what's being said, you're essentially implying that because clones, which are different types and different pps, exist and are distributed, this move that is exclusive to one pokemon should be distributed like the clones. At its core, that argument makes no sense. We are not talking about the distribution of similar moves, we're talking about the distribution of Accelerock, and its distribution is currently only Lycanrock. It's almost like if you were to say, well Aurumoth gets Blizzard, Thunder, and Focus Blast... and Fire Blast is really just a 'clone' of those moves... so why not give Auru Fire Blast! Obviously I've exaggerated the example, including competitive implications to emphasize the ways this logic can go wrong, but I hope it at least shows why thinking in terms of clones doesn't work.

Now, you can make the argument that the move might be spread out more in following games, but this argument also fails logically due to the fact that, according to how updates are supposed to work, further generations will have their own updates. Currently, if move X is a signature move, people tend to say, well heck with it! It'll spread out in further generations. My problem with that is, is that sure, it might spread out, but it might not. We don't know for certain. Following a logic of established precedence, if Move X is currently signature, then it is usually unflavorful to give it to a current CAP. NOW, if in a later generation the move is spread out, then the precedence becomes that the move isn't signature, therefore if may become perfectly fine to include. However, in that case scenario, move X could just be added in the generational updates where the precedence changes. There is no need to assume precedence when none exists.

I realize I really like precedence as a baseline for flavor, and that doesn't appeal to everyone as a method of determining what pokemon get what, but I would ask that people consider it a bit more heavily with signature moves, as, if in later generations the move is not widely distributed, now you have a CAP sitting on another Pokémon's signature move, which for me seems weird.
 
I'm fine with this going to poll, but this logic really irks me. If I understand what's being said, you're essentially implying that because clones, which are different types and different pps, exist and are distributed, this move that is exclusive to one pokemon should be distributed like the clones. At its core, that argument makes no sense. We are not talking about the distribution of similar moves, we're talking about the distribution of Accelerock, and its distribution is currently only Lycanrock. It's almost like if you were to say, well Aurumoth gets Blizzard, Thunder, and Focus Blast... and Fire Blast is really just a 'clone' of those moves... so why not give Auru Fire Blast! Obviously I've exaggerated the example, including competitive implications to emphasize the ways this logic can go wrong, but I hope it at least shows why thinking in terms of clones doesn't work.

Now, you can make the argument that the move might be spread out more in following games, but this argument also fails logically due to the fact that, according to how updates are supposed to work, further generations will have their own updates. Currently, if move X is a signature move, people tend to say, well heck with it! It'll spread out in further generations. My problem with that is, is that sure, it might spread out, but it might not. We don't know for certain. Following a logic of established precedence, if Move X is currently signature, then it is usually unflavorful to give it to a current CAP. NOW, if in a later generation the move is spread out, then the precedence becomes that the move isn't signature, therefore if may become perfectly fine to include. However, in that case scenario, move X could just be added in the generational updates where the precedence changes. There is no need to assume precedence when none exists.

I realize I really like precedence as a baseline for flavor, and that doesn't appeal to everyone as a method of determining what pokemon get what, but I would ask that people consider it a bit more heavily with signature moves, as, if in later generations the move is not widely distributed, now you have a CAP sitting on another Pokémon's signature move, which for me seems weird.
To add onto your point, we are supposed to give moves that were added since Strat's creation and are widely distributed enough so that Strat could get it. Accelerock is signature right now, but if it say, becomes a tutor move, then it will be fine when the time comes. For now, no thanks to Accelerock.
 

Deck Knight

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You have to stretch the logic pretty damn far on that example though - different accuracy AND competitive relevant secondary effect (and sometimes PP). As opposed to "40 BP damaging +1 priority move." In any case Stratagem doesn't *need* it either way, it doesn't really *need* anything in an update given it has Tech Hidden Power to grant it 90 BP coverage of everything except Fairy.
 

BP

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You have to stretch the logic pretty damn far on that example though - different accuracy AND competitive relevant secondary effect (and sometimes PP). As opposed to "40 BP damaging +1 priority move." In any case Stratagem doesn't *need* it either way, it doesn't really *need* anything in an update given it has Tech Hidden Power to grant it 90 BP coverage of everything except Fairy.
Deck Knight is absolutely right. This begs the question. Does Stratagem even need to be updated in the moves department. Personally I am against giving Stratagem anything besides the things that it needs to get like Swagger and Incinerate.
 

Dogfish44

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Strata *could theoretically* avoid updates beyond that of Swagger, Round etc. - but there's no particular reason to *not* be adding a few flavour things in my eyes. Like, if nothing works for Strata's flavour then nothing works, but I don't see the rationale in objecting to any flavour addition.

On that note, moves which are standing out for me;

  • Hone Claws. It has claw-like arms. Rocks tend to be good for sharpening stuff. Ergo.
  • Quick Guard might sound off, but being fast seems to be enough to qualify starting from ORAS, as Sceptile, Crobat, and Swellow all show.
  • Incinerate through access to other Fire moves.
  • Bulldoze through Earthquake
  • Round through Universality
  • Smack Down through typing
  • Confide through Universality
  • From purely flavour, Smart Strike
  • I agree with the calls for Dazzling Gleam, referring to Sableye for the similar Gem-eyes thing.
  • Accelerock makes flavour sense. Yes, it's a signature move, but it's one that I would put money on being un-sigged very soon. That, and getting Gen7 to have less signature moves isn't an inherent bad (the gen is far too sig-heavy imo)
  • Anything removed in the previous revamp in order to get Strata down to however many moves the hard limit was set at.
 

boxofkangaroos

this is the day of the expanding man
So as to not delay this process any further, Deck Knight and I have decided to move on to Movepool Submissions without any specific move polls. This way, rather than voting for the inclusion of certain moves, we will be voting for movepools that do or do not contain these moves.

Other than Round and Confide (and Stratagem's existing movepool), no moves will be required for submitted movepools. Keep in mind that no other new competitive moves should be included. This includes new coverage moves or stronger variants of existing coverage, as well as anything else with competitive merit. I'll be monitoring submissions closely to ensure this guideline is followed. Also, additions should focus on moves introduced in Gen 5-7, but earlier moves will not be prohibited.

Also note that Stratagem is genderless and cannot breed, so no new moves can be introduced as egg moves.

If you have any questions about whether x move is allowed, drop me a line either on PS! or on my Smogon profile. Have fun!
 
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snake

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WIP

For reference, bolded moves are new, italicized have been moved from other parts of the movepool.

- Quick Guard (Heart Scale
- Vacuum Wave (Heart Scale)
- Weather Ball (Heart Scale)
- Tackle
- Defense Curl
Evolve: Power Gem
4 Rollout
8 Absorb
13 Mud-Slap
16 Rock Blast
20 Disable
25 Mega Drain
28 Mud Shot
32 Ancient Power
37 Acupressure
40 Giga Drain
44 Earth Power
49 Metal Sound
52 Paleo Wave
56 Double-Edge
61 Speed Swap
64 Head Smash

This movepool is a pretty big overhaul, but Stratagem's current identity is preserved throughout while adding my own little twist. I won't show a version with edits unless asked for, but it'd be covered in strikethroughs and bolded text. I'll include each change in the change log though.

When I looked at Stratagem's level-up movepool, it didn't scream "special Rock-type attacker" like Stratagem aims to do through its concept. Therefore, I took a couple of Stratagem's TM Moves and Tutor moves, new and old, and some moves associated with those and added them to Stratagem's movepool.

Stratagem's movepool follows a 3-4-5 pattern. I'm not sure at what level Stratagem will evolve from Rebble, so I'll just refer to the Pokemon as Stratagem throughout. Tackle and Defense Curl are the two moves Stratagem starts with. It then learns Rollout, just earlier than it does now. The next two moves are where I got a little creative. I chose to include Absorb and Mud-Slap in Stratagem's moves, and you'll notice their stronger counterparts as the movepool goes on. I choose these two lines of moves because very few Rock-types learn Absorb, Mega Drain, and Giga Drain at all, and very few Rock-types learn Mud-Slap, Mud Shot, and Earth Power by level up. Rock Blast comes next to give Stratagem a more reliable Rock-type STAB move. Disable is next; it appears in Stratagem's current movepool. Next are Mega Drain and Mud Shot, stronger counterparts to Absorb and Mud-Slap. Then Stratagem learns Ancient Power for a reliable special STAB move, and placing it in Level Up prevents Ancient Power from being a Transfer Only move. Accupressure is next, as it appears in Stratagem's current movepool. Giga Drain and Earth Power finish off the Grass- and Ground-type move progressions in Stratagem's movepool, which fully fleshes out its identity. Metal Sound is another status move that appears in Stratagem's current movepool, which is also followed by Paleo Wave. I moved Double-Edge towards the end of the movepool because I didn't feel like it fit anywhere else. Speed Swap is learned by fast Pokemon that can increase their speed, and Ancient Power can definitely boost speed. Head Smash is Stratagem's current capstone move, and I feel like it should stay that way, even if it's a terrible choice on Stratagem competitively.

Weather Ball is already a Level 0 move, but I added Vacuum Wave to prevent that from being a Transfer Only move as well. Quick Guard because Stratagem is really fast like Crobat, another Quick Guard user.

Power Gem is the Evolve move because, while Paleo Wave has better flavor, I don't want to restrict Rebble from having access to it because there won't be any way to have it in Rebble's movepool otherwise. The evolve move of an evolved form never appears in the pre-evolved form's level up movepool, Paleo Wave isn't a TM or a Tutor Move, and Stratagem cannot breed; therefore if Paleo Wave is the Evolve move, Rebble will never have access to it. Since I don't want to restrict this option from Rebble, Power Gem is the next best move I can think of to make the Evolve move.

Rollout -> Rock Blast -> Ancient Power -> Power Gem -> Paleo Wave
Double Edge -> Head Smash
Absorb -> Mega Drain -> Giga Drain
Mud-Slap -> Mud Shot -> Earth Power
Disable / Acupressure / Metal Sound / Speed Swap
Ancient Power
Earth Power
Headbutt
Head Wave
Mud-Slap
Ominous Wind
Rollout

Snore
Swift
Trick
Vacuum Wave

Earth Power
Giga Drain
Heat Wave
Snore
Stealth Rock
Trick
Zen Headbutt

Headbutt, Ominous Wind, and Swift have all been moved to Transfer Only. Ancient Power, Mud-Slap, Rollout, and Vacuum Wave were added to Level Up.

Zen Headbutt is suggested by Stratagem's access to Headbutt and Head Smash and Psychic-type moves like Calm Mind.
TM04 Calm Mind
TM06 Toxic
TM10 Hidden Power
TM11 Sunny Day
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect
TM18 Rain Dance
TM21 Frustration
TM23 Smack Down
TM26 Earthquake
TM28 Leech Life
TM30 Shadow Ball
TM32 Double Team
TM35 Flamethrower
TM37 Sandstorm
TM38 Fire Blast
TM39 Rock Tomb
TM40 Aerial Ace
TM42 Façade
TM44 Rest
TM48 Round
TM53 Energy Ball
TM54 False Swipe
TM63 Embargo
TM64 Explosion
TM68 Giga Impact
TM69 Rock Polish
TM71 Stone Edge
TM78 Bulldoze
TM80 Rock Slide
TM88 Sleep Talk
TM90 Substitute
TM99 Dazzling Gleam
TM100 Confide


Smack Down is suggested by Stratagem's Rock-types. Bulldoze is consistent with Earthquake. Round and Confide are universal. Given Stratagem's access to Giga Drain, Leech Life isn't too much of a stretch. Dazzling Gleam got some discussion in the thread and I didn't see much backlash against it.
Cut
Endure
Flash
Headbutt

Incinerate
Ominous Wind
Rock Smash
Secret Power
Strength
Swift


Headbutt, Ominous Wind, and Swift are old tutor moves. Endure, Flash, and Secret Power are old TMs. Rock Smash and Strength are old HMs. Incinerate is implied by Fire Blast.
Rock Climb is abandoned because most Pokemon that learn Rock Climb by HM in Gen 4 do not get it back in later gens. Not sure why Stratagem is even trying to climb the rocks when it could just levitate above them...
boxofkangaroos (Stratagem) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 30 Def
- Accelerock
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power

I felt like putting Accelerock into Stratagem's level up pool was a little weird. Just taking a Generation 7's event move for its Level Up pool felt really off to me. If Stratagem could breed, I'd put it in Egg Moves, but it can't. Therefore, I resorted to an event Stratagem. This Stratagem is Generation 7 exclusive, with optimal mixed attacking IVs for Hidden Power [Ice]. This isn't me casting Accelerock aside trying to hide it away; this is the best way imo to add it to its movepool while leaving Generation 7 moves "exclusive" to their respective mons' level up pools. Again, if Stratagem would breed, Accelerock would be in Egg Moves.
Additions:
Absorb added at Level 4
Accelerock added to Event
Bulldoze added to TM List
Confide added to TM List
Dazzling Gleam added to TM List
Incinerate added to Transfer Only
Leech Life added to TM List
Mega Drain added at Level 20
Quick Guard added to Level 1
Round added to TM List
Smack Down added to TM List
Speed Swap added to Level 64
Zen Headbutt added to Tutor Moves

Moved from one part of the movepool to another:
Ancient Power moved from Tutor Moves to Level 40
Cut moved from HM List to Transfer Only
Endure moved from TM List to Transfer Only
Flash moved from TM List to Transfer Only
Giga Drain moved from TM List to Level 44 and Tutor Moves
Headbutt moved from Tutor List to Transfer
Mud-Slap moved from Tutor Moves to Level 8
Ominous Wind moved from Tutor List to Transfer Only
Rock Smash moved from HM List to Transfer Only
Secret Power moved from TM List to Transfer Only
Strength moved from HM List to Transfer Only
Swift moved from Tutor Moves to Transfer Only
Vacuum Wave moved from Tutor List to Level 1

Moved from one part of the movepool to another:
Acupressure moved from Level 20 and Level 32
Defense Curl moved from Level 5 to Level 0
Disable moved from Level 17 to Level 16
Double-Edge moved from Level 32 to Level 61
Head Smash moved from Level 50 to Level 68
Metal Sound moved from Level 37 to Level 49
Paleo Wave moved from Level 42 to Level 52
Power Gem moved from Level 29 to Evolve Move
Rock Blast moved from Level 15 to Level 13
Rollout moved from Level 8 to Level 1

Duplications:
Earth Power duplicated from Tutor Moves to Level 56 and to Event
Flamethrower duplicated from TM List to Event
Hidden Power duplicated from TM List to Event
 
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Final Submission

Bold = New Move
Italic = Already learned by other method

- Ancient Power
- Stealth Rock

- Weather Ball
- Tackle
- Defense Curl
5 Rollout
9 Mud-Slap
13 Rock Blast
18 Disable
22 Accelerock
26 Acupressure
31 Mud Shot
35 Power Gem
39 Quick Guard
44 Vacuum Wave
48 Double-Edge
52 Metal Sound
57 Earth Power
61 Paleo Wave
65 Head Smash

First off, I adjusted Stratagem's move progression to a simple 5-4-4 pattern.

Stratagem has several important competitive moves as Gen 4 Tutor moves. I decided to adjust the level up movepool to include most of these, or else they would be stuck as transfer moves. Stratagem now learns Earth Power naturally later on, and since it learns Mud Shot in the middle of the progression, Mud Slap was added early on for good taste. Ancient Power and Stealth Rock are both competitive and flavorful on Stratagem, so they were added in as Heart Scale moves. Vacuum Wave was added later on primarily for competitive implications.

The two new additions here are Accelerock and Quick Guard. Accelerock is incredibly flavorful on Stratagem, perhaps even more so than it is on Lycanroc itself, as Stratagem is literally a fast-moving rock! Its competitive implications, though not entirely non-existent, are minimal due to Stratagem's low Attack. Quick Guard is found on fast moving Pokemon, and provides another Fighting-type move in the level up movepool to complement Vacuum Wave's addition.
TM04 Calm Mind
TM06 Toxic
TM10 Hidden Power
TM11 Sunny Day
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect
TM18 Rain Dance
TM19 Giga Drain
TM21 Frustration
TM23 Smack Down
TM26 Earthquake
TM27 Return
TM30 Shadow Ball
TM32 Double Team
TM35 Flamethrower
TM37 Sandstorm
TM38 Fire Blast
TM39 Rock Tomb
TM40 Aerial Ace
TM42 Facade
TM44 Rest
TM48 Round
TM53 Energy Ball
TM54 False Swipe
TM63 Embargo
TM64 Explosion
TM68 Giga Impact
TM69 Rock Polish
TM71 Stone Edge
TM78 Bulldoze
TM80 Rock Slide
TM88 Sleep Talk
TM87 Swagger
TM90 Substitute
TM100 Confide

No surprises here. Round, Swagger, and Confide are all universal. Smack Down is learned by the majority of Rock-types. Bulldoze has nearly perfect move-to-move correlation with Earthquake.
Earth Power
Heat Wave
Snore
Stealth Rock
Trick
Zen Headbutt

Stealth Rock is a former TM.

It's important to note that access to Head Smash does not automatically imply Zen Headbutt or Iron Head as tutor moves. Neither does Headbutt. Donphan, Nidoking, and Sudowoodo are all proof of this. I decided to include Zen Headbutt, as Stratagem has just enough Psychic-type flavor for it to make sense (Calm Mind, Trick, being a floating pile of rocks). Stratagem lacks sufficient Steel-type flavor (Metal Sound is its only Steel-type move), so I opted not to include Iron Head.
Cut
Endure
Flash
Headbutt

Incinerate (Gen 5/6 TM)
Natural Gift
Ominous Wind
Rock Smash
Secret Power
Swift


All Pokemon that learn Fire Blast were able to learn Incinerate as a past gen TM, so I added it.

Old TMs, HMs, and tutor moves that didn't make their way into the level up movepool are found here.
- Accelerock and Quick Guard added to level up moves.
- Bulldoze, Confide, Round, Smack Down, and Swagger added to TMs.
- Zen Headbutt added to tutor moves.
- Incinerate added as a transfer move.

- Ancient Power, Earth Power, Mud-Slap, Stealth Rock, and Vacuum Wave can now be learned via level up.
- Stealth Rock can now be learned via move tutor.
- Endure, Flash, Headbutt, Natural Gift, Ominous Wind, Rock Smash, Secret Power, and Swift are now transfer moves.

- Rock Climb removed entirely due to being non-transferable and not fitting in the level up movepool.

Only nine new moves and some thoughtful rearranging.
 
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