Capture the Confederate Flag Strategy Guide Part 2: Secret Power & The States

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Learn everything you need to learn about the Confederate States of America!

Now that you know the basics of KoopaTV's free hit PC game, Capture the Confederate Flag, it's time we take a deep dive into the specifics of the fully-explorable world contained therein.

We're going to go state-by-state, telling you what's there, and what your Secret Power move does! As we mentioned before, Secret Power's effects depend on where you're using it. We really wanted to highlight the differences of each state, and provide some educational content as well. So, there was a lot of design and research that went into these Secret Power moves. Secret Power may be Robert E. Lillipup's only attack, but it's very flexible.

I want to state ahead of time that all Secret Power moves have the basic properties of being 60% their size as Lillipup, 80% their normal size as Herdier, 100% their normal size as Stoutland, and 120% their normal size when you're riding Metagross. The result is that it's easier to hit opponents with the bigger hitbox. Also, in general, all of the moves are cancelable, meaning you can cancel the move's animation by pressing the space-bar again to start the move again.

Washington D.C.

Borders

Virginia to the west.

Features

This is where the Confederate Flag is being held. You'll need to continually return here throughout the game.

Sometimes, Robert E. Lee's casket will appear before the flag does. By walking up to it, you'll trigger a short cutscene, and something will happen, be it evolution or picking up a particularly important item.

Enemies

None, although Hillary Clinton will start following you from here, so you better leave soon.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Powerless.

Picture:

“Go back to Dixie you mutt.” Lillipup in Washington D.C.

Effects: You'll trigger a voice that says, “Go back to Dixie you mutt.” Nothing happens otherwise.

Base Damage: 0.

Evolution Differences: None. There's a different voice that plays if you're riding Metagross, but this can only happen in the most difficult ending to get.

Explanation: Robert's power derives from being within the South. When outside of it, he is out of his element and is effectively powerless.

Virginia

Borders

Washington D.C. to the east.

North Carolina to the south.

Tennessee to the southeast.

Features

You must go through Virginia to reach Washington D.C. Northern Virginia has been polluted by the evil influence of the country's capital, hence the purple streaks of EVIL.

At the very beginning of the game, Hillary's footprints will pass through Virginia.

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops an Oran Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Royalty.

Picture:

Lillipup's Royalty attack in Virginia. The left top-hat has damaged Dylann Roof.

Effects: Three hats rise up above Robert, have a hitbox, and then scatter and disperse on their way down. Each scattered hat has a hitbox upon landing (which takes .9 seconds), but only one will hit before the enemy's invincibility frames kick in.

Base Damage: 3 per hat hit.

Evolution Differences: Herdier has tiaras, and Stoutland/Metagross send up crowns. Metagross's crowns rise higher and slightly faster.

Explanation: Virginia was once known as the crown jewel of the South, and a major cultural and industrial centre. The Confederacy moved its capital to Richmond, Virginia after its initial capital in Alabama. Virginia was where the most powerful people in early American history were from or resided. Nowadays, Northern Virginia is commonly considered not to be an actual part of The South, due to the negative influence from Washington D.C. and many of its residents working for the federal government, instead of being real Southerners.

North Carolina

Borders

Virginia to the north.

Tennessee to the east.

South Carolina to the south.

Georgia to the southeast.

Features

At the very beginning of the game, Hillary's footprints will pass through North Carolina.

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops an Oran Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Tar Heel.

Picture:

Lillipup using the Tar Heel technique in North Carolina, stomping over Dylann Roof.

Effects: Begins a trail of footprints that lasts for 2.5 seconds. Wherever Robert moves, he will leave footprints behind. The hitbox is the entire trail, and it lasts as long as the trail does.

Base Damage: 2 per non-invincible contact with the tar heel trail.

Evolution Differences: Lillipup and Herdier share footprints. Stoutland has a unique footprint, and Metagross also has a unique footprint. Metagross's sound effect is a lot different than the dogs’.

Explanation: North Carolina is known as the Tar Heel state. The exact reason why is unknown, but it's the most interesting thing with North Carolina that I could make a game mechanic out of. I concluded in my research North Carolina is the most generic former Confederate state.

South Carolina

Borders

North Carolina to the north.

Georgia to the west.

Features

South Carolina is where Robert begins at the start of the game.

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops a Liechi Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Palmetto.

Picture:

Robert is watching the Palmetto drop on Dylann Roof's head. It'll defeat him instantly.

Effects: Palmetto is a three-part attack. First, plant the tree with your space-bar. It will remain there, so Robert is free to move around. The tree will face the direction Robert was when he planted it. Press space-bar again to put an axe to the tree. Press it again for the tree to fall down.

Base Damage: 15 damage upon the tree's impact.

Evolution Differences: The axe is silver for Lillipup and Herdier, and gold for Stoutland and Metagross.

Explanation: South Carolina is known as the Palmetto State, named after that tree. It's okay to put an axe to it, because logging is a big industry in South Carolina. The reason the game begins in South Carolina is because South Carolina is where the Civil War began, and it's also where the Confederate Flag controversy began, with states removing it from their properties. The move is based off of Villager's Timber in Super Smash Bros. 4, and the axe sprites used in Capture the Confederate Flag are from Animal Crossing.

Tennessee

Borders

Virginia to the northeast.

North Carolina to the east.

Arkansas to the west.

Georgia to the southeast.

Alabama to the south.

Mississippi to the southwest.

Features

Tennessee borders the most amount of states in the game, with six. Note that, including Washington D.C., there are twelve states to go, so Tennessee plus its border states make up over half of the game.

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops an Oran Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Music.

Picture:

Robert tries to calm the captive Petilil with some country music.

Effects: Robert emits a music note that extends a little depending on his direction. There are four possible very short music clips that may play while the music note is in effect, which is a little over 2 seconds. The hitbox is lingering throughout the note's duration.

Base Damage: 1 damage per contact with a non-invincible frame.

Evolution Differences: None.

Explanation: Tennessee, and Nashville in particular, is considered to be the capital of country music, and music plays a huge part of its culture.

Georgia

Borders

South Carolina to the east.

Florida to the south.

North Carolina to the northeast.

Tennessee to the northwest.

Alabama to the west.

Features

Georgia borders the second-most amount of states, at five.

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops an Oran Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Peach.

Picture:

Robert watches his peach explode while Petilil watches.

Effects: Robert lobs a peach grenade in the direction he's facing. The peach goes forward and then explodes into two pieces, covering a large, but linear amount of area in front of Robert. The hitbox is short.

Base Damage: 5 damage, hitbox only on the explosion.

Evolution Differences: None.

Explanation: Georgia is known as the Peach State, and many of its streets and locales are named after the peach, including the many dozens of places named “Peachtree ___.”

Florida

Borders

Georgia to the north.

Alabama to the northwest.

Features

Characters may freely walk over the Gulf of Mexico (the blank space to Florida's west), and Robert will need to because the enemies will do so, and Florida's Secret Power is lacking in range.

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops an Oran Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Orange.

Picture:

Robert tries to strike Dylann Roof with oranges, but Dylann is too far away.

Effects: Upon pressing the spacebar, Robert will shoot out an orange. Pressing the spacebar multiple times will result in more oranges. The oranges have a large, random spread 90 degrees (-45 to 45) in front of Robert, and are very close-range. Each orange only has one, short hitbox.

Base Damage: 1 damage per contact with a non-invincible frame.

Evolution Differences: Stoutland-riding-Metagross's oranges go much farther from their sprite before the fruit's hitbox is applied.

Explanation: Oranges are a major part of Florida's economy, and most of America's oranges are grown from Florida. The inspiration for the move's mechanic is from Splatoon's Splattershot Jr., although in this case, because of invincibility frames on enemies after being hit, more shots isn't necessarily more helpful. Since the oranges do NOT cancel, it's possible to freeze your computer with this move if you're irresponsible.

Alabama

Borders

Florida to the south.

Georgia to the east.

Tennessee to the north.

Mississippi to the west.

Features

Alabama seems to be the best candidate for being the very centre of the South..

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops an Oran Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Cotton Guard.

Picture:

Effects: Five Cottonee (one covering Robert, and one for each cardinal direction) surround Robert for .5 seconds. Any bullets that come into contact with the Cotton Guard are nullified and do no damage.

Base Damage: 3.

Evolution Differences: Lillipup and Herdier both summon Cottonee, but Stoutland summons Whimsicott, and while riding Metagross, Robert summons Altaria.

Explanation: You can't have a game about the Confederate States of America and not mention cotton somewhere, right? Of course, there's already a Pokémon move based off of cotton, being Cotton Guard. All of the Pokémon that can be summoned are of course those that can learn Cotton Guard, and it can guard against those bullets.

Mississippi

Borders

Alabama to the east.

Louisiana to the southeast.

Tennessee to the north.

Arkansas to the northwest.

Features

Thank G-d for Mississippi! Actually, there's nothing that makes it worse than the other states. (This isn't a simulation!)

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops a Salac Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Magnolia.

Picture:

The magnolia's petals exploding in Dylann Roof's face.

Effects: Robert gets a magnolia flower out, splits the stem, and the magnolia petals extend diagonally from his position. The hitbox is at the magnolia petal explosion thing.

Base Damage: 6.

Evolution Differences: None.

Explanation: The magnolia is Mississippi's state flower, and also the state's nickname.

Arkansas

Borders

Mississippi to the southeast.

Tennessee to the northeast.

Louisiana to the south.

Texas to the southwest.

Features

Bill Clinton has special reactions that occur if he is still alive if Hillary Clinton is chasing you, and if he is still alive during the boss rush. This is opposed to Dylann Roof, who disappears from the game once the boss rush has begun if he was not defeated in a state.

Enemies

Bill Clinton with 25 HP. He drops the Volume Switch upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Diamonds.

Picture:

Carbink using Rock Slide, summoned by Herdier.

Effects: Secret Power summons a Carbink, who will summon three rocks in front of it. A second later, the rocks slide and extend downward, which is when the hitbox is applied.

Mega Diancie using Diamond Storm, summoned by Stoutland!

Base Damage: 6. This applies for all forms of the attack.

Evolution Differences: Lillipup and Herdier will summon the Carbink. However, Stoutland and Metagross will have an entirely different move entirely: Diancie will be summoned and use Diamond Storm! Diancie will show up, mega evolve into Mega Diancie, summon the large pink diamond above its head (where it faces depends on what direction Robert was facing), and rotate the diamond in the cardinal directions before returning to its original spot. Each rotation has a hitbox. This covers a massive amount of area.

Explanation: Arkansas has this super-cool tourist attraction, the Crater of Diamonds State Park. It's the only diamond mine in the world open to the public, and visitors can keep what they excavate. It's still active! As for Bill Clinton, obviously, he was the governor of Arkansas. The humans in this game represent people who have shamed the South. Bill was once a Southern hero, but lately his image has been tarnished by his infidelities, which is the opposite of something a Southern gentleman would do.

Louisiana

Borders

Mississippi to the east.

Arkansas to the north.

Texas to the west.

Features

Louisiana has the most dramatic border shape of all of the states, but you end up spawning to the same location in the adjacent state no matter how you cross it.

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops an Oran Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Lobster.

Picture:

“Corphish, cor! Cor cor cor cor!”

Effects: Corphish will be summoned and use Aqua Jet, which involves scurrying forwards (leaving a trail of water) and then doing a figure-8, before disappearing. The hitbox is constant (lingering) on Corphish during the figure-8, but there is no hitbox for the initial steps forward.

Base Damage: 3 damage per contact with a non-invincible frame.

Evolution Differences: Lillipup and Herdier summon Corphish, while Stoutland and Metagross summon Crawdaunt. Metagross's Crawdaunt goes further out than the dogs’.

Explanation: Lobster/crayfish are a delicacy in Louisiana, and the vast majority of the USA's crayfish are harvested from Louisiana.

Texas

Borders

Louisiana to the east.

Arkansas to the northeast.

Features

While Texas is the largest state on the map, it doesn't have the most surface area for the game. Texas has the least number of border states, at two, not counting Washington D.C. only going to Virginia. Texas was the first state programmed, and the state to begin the boss rush, so it'll be the start of Part 3 of this strategy guide!

Enemies

Dylann Roof with 10 HP. He drops a Salac Berry upon defeat.

Secret Power Move:

Name: Horses.

Picture:

Stoutland trying to impress the rescued Petilil with his perfectly-spaced Rapidash.

Effects: The horse rushes forward with Flame Charge, with a constant hitbox until it disappears. In its path is a trail of flames.

Base Damage: 4 damage. While the hitbox is constant, the invincibility frames last longer than when the duration of the Flame Charge.

Evolution Differences: Lillipup and Herdier have Ponyta, while Stoutland and Metagross have Rapidash. Stoutland's Rapidash goes further than Ponyta, and Metagross's goes further than Stoutland's. Rapidash leaves a larger trail of flame than Lillipup and Herdier's Ponyta.

Explanation: Everyone associates Texas with horse-riding cowboys! The original idea was to just lob a bunch of oil in front of Robert, but bringing Ponyta/Rapidash into the game fit its spirit much better than that.

...And that's all of the states.

There are another set of moves you can use in the FINAL boss battle, but those don't count as Secret Power, and will be covered in the next guide. That next guide will cover the boss rush through all of the states we just discussed, and the final battle afterwards!

The point of the flag-collecting half, in terms of the game's design is to get you comfortable with how your moves work, along with the basic movement mechanics.

One last note: Whenever you have the flag, Hillary Clinton will be in pursuit of you — and she gets faster the more progress you make in the game. She has infinite HP. The most you can do is send her backwards and stun her, which you can do with any Secret Power hitbox. The stun is temporary and is on a timer (3 seconds by default), but it's possible to run through several states while she's stunned. Be careful, though: If she touches you, she'll do 5 damage to you and run back to Washington D.C. with the flag! So then you'll need to come back and get it. It's therefore safer to try to lure Hillary to a state with a longer-range Secret Power, stun her, and then run to your destination. Find the best paths through the states to accomplish your goals!


Ludwig hopes that players will appreciate the non-linearity of Capture the Confederate Flag, since you can return flags to the states in any order you want. He recommends playing through the game multiple times for the different endings, and defeating each enemy in every state for a player's first run, since that's the easiest way to play through the game. KoopaTV's next game is coming out quite soon, so look forward to that as well.


Here is the final strategy guide: Part 3!