VGC 17 Arcanine

[OVERVIEW]

* Arcanine is one of very few Pokemon in the VGC17 format with access to Intimidate, an extremely valuable ability for most teams.
* Its well-rounded stats can be tailored to offensive or defensive roles, allowing it to fit on many different teams.
* Arcanine's deep movepool gives it options to further customize its set and makes it difficult to play around until its moves have been scouted.
* Its Fire typing lets it check many threats in the metagame; Grass-, Ice-, and Steel-types like Kartana, Ninetales, and Celesteela are at a disadvantage both offensively and defensively, and the resistance to Fairy- and opposing Fire-type attacks is often useful.
* Lack of any exceptional stat can make Arcanine underwhelming compared to more specialized offensive or defensive Pokemon.
* Common Ground-, Water-, and Rock-type attackers threaten to KO Arcanine even when weakened.


[SET]
name: Helpful Pupper (Bulky Support)
move 1: Flamethrower
move 2: Snarl
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Protect / Roar / Morning Sun
item: Aguav Berry / Sitrus Berry
ability: Intimidate
nature: Calm
evs: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Flamethrower provides an accurate STAB attack that can be used repeatedly, but Overheat and Burn Up are sometimes chosen for their much higher power.
* Snarl weakens special attackers, which can ignore Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp, and deals chip damage to both foes.
* Will-O-Wisp shuts down most physical attackers and provides helpful chip damage.
* Protect is a staple move in VGC, letting Arcanine defend itself while its partner attacks or switches to gain a stronger position. Roar can prevent opposing Trick Room and creates problems for teams focused on Extreme Evoboost, Z-Conversion, or other boosting moves. Recovering with Morning Sun helps Arcanine stay on the field and support its team for even longer, forcing the opponent to have Toxic or very strong attackers in order to break through it. Any of these moves can also replace Snarl or Will-O-Wisp if the team needs that particular support—Will-O-Wisp is often replaced on teams using Tapu Fini.

Set Details
========

* Intimidate is a VGC staple and Arcanine's best ability—it lowers the Attack stat of both foes by one stage every time Arcanine enters the field. One Intimidate turns many strong attacks aimed at your team from OHKOs into 2HKOs and 2HKOs into 3HKOs; after two, most physical attackers become dead weight unless they're hitting for super effective damage. This Arcanine set has the bulk to switch in and out of battle repeatedly, making Intimidate even more valuable than normal.
* HP is made divisible by 4 so Sitrus Berry will activate after Nature's Madness / Super Fang and Aguav Berry will activate after Guardian of Alola. With 188 EVs in Defense, Arcanine avoids the 3HKO from Garchomp's Earthquake after Intimidate and Aguav Berry. 76 Special Defense EVs with a Calm Nature let Arcanine survive a Life Orb Tapu Lele's Psychic in Psychic Terrain or a Salamence's Devastating Drake.
* The EVs can easily be adjusted to suit team needs: more Speed can be used to weaken various mid-Speed attackers before they move—156 Speed with a Timid nature outspeeds Modest Tapu Lele, Adamant Krookodile, and any Gyarados; Defense and Special Defense can be balanced to hit benchmarks relevant to the team; Special Attack investment can secure Flamethrower 2HKOs or 3HKOs or Overheat or Burn Up OHKOs.
* Aguav Berry and Sitrus Berry both heal Arcanine and help it support its team for longer. Aguav Berry heals 50% compared to Sitrus Berry's 25%, but Sitrus Berry is more reliably activated.

Usage Tips
========

* This Arcanine can often be used as a lead to disrupt the opponent right from the start and prevent them from gaining momentum. However, this is very risky when the opponent has a Competitive or Defiant user like Milotic or Braviary unless Arcanine's partner can immediately KO them.
* If Arcanine is needed to handle an endgame threat like Celesteela, it should be preserved with a good amount of health; otherwise, it can afford to tank hits while weakening its foes.
* Arcanine can safely switch in on resisted or weaker neutral hits from the likes of Kartana, Muk, and Porygon2—this can be used to spread Intimidate, Snarl, and burns repeatedly throughout the match.
* Arcanine can work alongside nearly any Pokemon, but it is best sent out next to a partner that has strong attacks or setup options. Arcanine can lower both foes' offenses until they are no longer threatening, but it often doesn't threaten them back itself. A partner that capitalizes on this lack of opposing offensive pressure can often set up a win by getting damage onto a key threat or boosting its stats to sweep.

Team Options
========

* Water-types appreciate Arcanine scaring off Kartana and Tapu Bulu, and they hit Ground- and Rock-type attackers that threaten Arcanine. Calm Mind Tapu Fini is very often paired with this set, but Araquanid, Milotic, Gastrodon, Lapras, and others can work well depending on the team.
* Grass-types hit the Water-, Rock-, and Ground-types that threaten Arcanine, while Arcanine walls opposing Fire-types and KOes Steel-types that would otherwise be problematic for them. Kartana and Tapu Bulu are the most common Grass-type attackers in the format, but others like Lilligant and Dhelmise have niche roles.
* Porygon2 can use Ice Beam to easily KO Garchomp, which otherwise threatens to chunk Arcanine with Earthquake or even OHKO it with Tectonic Rage. Intimidate and Snarl from Arcanine further increase Porygon2's impressive bulk, allowing it to handle nearly any attacks thrown its way. Even Pheromosa can no longer OHKO Porygon2 when affected by Intimidate, and Arcanine easily KOes Pheromosa in return.
* Celesteela uses Arcanine's Intimidate and Snarl support to more easily stall out teams with Leech Seed, and Arcanine hits Pokemon like Kartana that wall non-Flamethrower variants of Celesteela. In return, Celesteela can switch in to take certain powerful attacks aimed at Arcanine, such as Tectonic Rage from Garchomp, Shattered Psyche from Tapu Lele, and Hyper Beam from Porygon-Z.
* This Arcanine set generally fits best on bulky offensive teams, which can make full use of Arcanine's defensive support to dish out big damage and safely switch into strong positions.

[SET]
name: Attack Doggo (Physically Offensive)
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Wild Charge
move 3: Extreme Speed
move 4: Protect
item: Firium Z / Electrium Z
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Flare Blitz is chosen as STAB attack despite the recoil because it is vastly more powerful than Arcanine's other physical Fire-type attacks.
* Wild Charge hits Water-types like Tapu Fini, Milotic, and Araquanid which resist Arcanine's STAB. While it won't OHKO these targets, it does deal a large chunk and may even KO after they switch into a Flare Blitz.
* Extreme Speed is used to finish off weakened targets and to put foes into KO range of a faster partner.
* Protect shields Arcanine from attacks for one turn, and this Arcanine set usually needs it because it can't easily shrug off hits without bulk investment.
* Support moves like Roar can replace one of Arcanine's coverage attacks if its partners handle the relevant threats already and/or if the utility is needed.

Set Details
========
* This set is less able to repeatedly switch in and Intimidate foes throughout a match, but Intimidate is still by far Arcanine's best ability. Weakening a physical attacker on even one occasion is often all it takes for Arcanine and its partners to seize momentum.
* Maximum Attack is used to hit as hard as possible.
* Maximum investment with Arcanine's solid base 95 Speed lets it outspeed mid-Speed Pokemon without worrying about Speed creep wars, and bulk investment would often be pointless when using attacks with recoil damage.
* Jolly Arcanine at worst Speed ties with non-Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, usually being faster due to few Tapu Lele being Timid. It also guarantees outrunning non-Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Krookodile, and Xurkitree. Many Pokemon around this Speed tier don't use Speed-boosting natures, though, so Adamant Arcanine can be used for greater power while still often outspeeding these foes. The increased power allows Adamant Arcanine to probably 2HKO Leftovers Tapu Fini with Wild Charge where Jolly Arcanine almost never will, for example.
* Firium Z gives Arcanine a recoil-free and very powerful Fire-type attack but doesn't boost its coverage moves. Electrium Z lets Arcanine deal massive damage to Tapu Fini, Araquanid, and other Water-types that usually give it trouble, but it doesn't boost its primary attacking move. Importantly, both of these options are only usable once per battle and inhibit Arcanine's partners from using Z-moves.

Usage Tips
========

* Arcanine is often a fine lead to immediately weaken opposing physical attackers and to pressure foes with Flare Blitz. Wild Charge hits Milotic hard enough that its presence doesn't always force Arcanine to stay in the back, but you should still be wary of it.
* Arcanine should be played carefully if needed to handle a specific threat like Celesteela or Kartana—this set is rather vulnerable to being worn down by neutral hits and the recoil from its own attacks.
* Keeping up momentum is very important with this set—if Arcanine's partner is too passive, your opponent can easily tank Arcanine's attacks and wear it down. On the other hand, Arcanine can pin many foes when next to another strong attacker.

Team Options
========

* Kartana easily KOes Gastrodon and other Water-types for Arcanine, and Arcanine can KO Celesteela and opposing Kartana. Even Pokemon that are strong against both members of this pair often struggle to handle them both simultaneously—Alolan Marowak can switch into a Flare Blitz or Leaf Blade, but you threaten the KO on the next turn with the combination of Night Slash and Flare Blitz.
* Tapu Lele's Terrain-boosted Psychic deals heavy damage to everything in the metagame except Steel-types, opposing Tapu Lele, and Muk. The first two go down easily to Arcanine's Inferno Overdrive and nearly to normal Flare Blitz; even though Muk can take Inferno Overdrive, it definitely won't enjoy it. Using Tapu Lele does have the notable drawback of blocking Arcanine's Extreme Speed—this can be handled with careful Terrain management or by choosing a utility or coverage move for that slot instead.
* Ninetales outspeeds Garchomp and OHKOes it with Blizzard, hits Water-types hard with Freeze-Dry, and can set Aurora Veil to increase Arcanine's durability. In return, Arcanine scares away Ninetales's Steel-type nemeses and chunks specially bulky Pokemon like Snorlax and Tapu Lele, which can tank Blizzards.
* Water-types have strong type synergy with Arcanine, being protected from Grass-types and helping protect Arcanine against Ground- and Rock-types. This Arcanine set generally prefers more offensive partners to maintain momentum, such as Araquanid and Choice Specs Tapu Fini, but bulkier Water-types can work as well.
* Arcanine is weak to two of the most common spread attacks, Rock Slide and Earthquake, so Wide Guard support can be useful. Araquanid, Gigalith, Aerodactyl, Hariyama, and Celesteela are the most viable users.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Life Orb can be used on offensive sets to boost the damage of all of Arcanine's moves, but combined with the natural recoil of Flare Blitz and Wild Charge it wears Arcanine down very quickly.
* Choice Band is another option for offensive sets that boosts all of Arcanine's moves significantly, but it can leave it locked into a suboptimal attack and prevents it from running Protect.
* Safety Goggles makes Arcanine an extremely strong answer to the Torkoal / Lilligant / Oranguru core, but it is useless in most other situations.
* Firium Z can be used on a support set for a one-time nuke, and it is usually used with Overheat or Burn Up to attack once before having to deal with their drawbacks.
* Assault Vest immediately increases Arcanine's special bulk, and combined with Snarl it can make Arcanine extremely difficult for special attackers to break. However, this does prevent Arcanine from using Protect and some of its support moves.
* Close Combat can be used on physically offensive Arcanine to hit Porygon2 and Gigalith, and it is usually seen on Choice Band sets.
* Crunch is an option on physically offensive sets to hit Alolan Marowak, which otherwise walls Arcanine.
* Helping Hand boosts a partner's attack once and is useful to exert pressure when Arcanine itself doesn't do much to either foe. It is particularly good with a partner that has strong spread moves.
* Heat Wave gives Arcanine a spread STAB attack, but the spread damage reduction and its imperfect accuracy make it undesirable for some players.
* Bulldoze can be used as a means of speed control, although it requires Arcanine's partner to use Protect or be Ground immune and is rather weak.
* Toxic can be used to wear down walls like Porygon2 and Gastrodon, especially in conjunction with Morning Sun.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Garchomp and Krookodile can both OHKO Arcanine with Tectonic Rage through Intimidate or potentially 2HKO it with Earthquake depending on EV spreads. Krookodile is naturally slower than Arcanine but usually has near-maximum Speed investment, and Garchomp is always faster than Arcanine. Mudsdale is much slower than Arcanine, but it doesn't take much damage from Arcanine's attacks due to its good defenses and can avoid being burned if Misty Terrain is up or Arcanine isn't running it. High Horsepower misses the OHKO at -1 but will 2HKO even bulky sets.

**Water-types**: Many common Water-types in the meta give Arcanine problems. Pelipper and Golduck can OHKO Arcanine with rain-boosted Scalds, although offensive Arcanine can outspeed Pelipper and KO it with Wild Charge. Araquanid's Water Bubble makes Liquidation nearly OHKO Arcanine through Intimidate, makes Hydro Vortex easily KO any Arcanine, and even prevents Arcanine from burning Araquanid. Milotic's Competitive ability boosts its Special Attack two stages when any of its stats is lowered, turning Milotic into a massive threat if Arcanine tries to Intimidate or Snarl its partner—at +2, even an uninvested Milotic can OHKO Arcanine with Scald. Tapu Fini's Misty Surge prevents Arcanine from using Will-O-Wisp to burn it or its partner, it can deal heavy damage to Arcanine with Muddy Water, and it can use Calm Mind to offset Special Attack drops from Snarl. Gastrodon easily takes attacks from any common Arcanine set and can use Recover to stick around and annoy Arcanine throughout a match.

**Rock-type Pokemon**: Nihilego outspeeds Arcanine and OHKOes almost any set with Power Gem if holding a Life Orb and can still OHKO offensive sets without a boosting item. Aerodactyl outspeeds Arcanine and does solid damage with Rock Slide, although it won't 2HKO at -1 and may only 4HKO bulky Sitrus berry sets. Gigalith is much slower than Arcanine but is often used under Trick Room, and it easily OHKOes with Continental Crush even at -1.

**Tapu Lele**: Tapu Lele doesn't enjoy taking Flare Blitz from offensive Arcanine sets, but it can deal massive damage to any Arcanine with Psychic or even OHKO with a Terrain-boosted Shattered Psyche. Psychic Terrain also prevents offensive Arcanine from using Extreme Speed to pick off Tapu Lele or its partners at low HP.

**Alolan Marowak**: Marowak's typing and Lightning Rod ability allow it to take attacks from Arcanine with ease—even super-effective Snarl from defensive sets does very little, and offensive sets can hit it for resisted damage at best unless they run Crunch. Meanwhile, Marowak's Bonemerang may 2HKO Arcanine through Sitrus Berry and Intimidate and will always 3HKO even against very defensive Arcanine holding Aguav Berry.

**Braviary**: Defiant gives Braviary a net one-stage boost to its Attack whenever Arcanine Intimidates it, making it extremely dangerous. +1 Brave Bird may KO Arcanine without a boosting item, and Life Orb Brave Bird or Supersonic Skystrike will OHKO any Arcanine. At +1, Life Orb Braviary can OHKO Tapu Fini with Brave Bird and most Porygon2 with Superpower. Offensive Arcanine sets outspeed and may OHKO no-bulk Braviary, but you must still be wary of Adrenaline Orb, Choice Scarf, and bulkier sets.

**Intimidate**: Opposing Intimidate Pokemon can weaken physically offensive Arcanine sets and cause them to miss KOs on various targets, but specially based Arcanine are unaffected.
 
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- I think AV should be mentioned in OO. Combination of AV and Snarl makes Arcanine ridiculously bulky on special side, while it allows it to combine supportive and offensive roles.

- Heat Wave sounds like good mention in OO, as its spread STAB-move. Its almost always atleast optional.
 
^ add the above mentions please. You also need to talk about Intimidate, only mentions I see are in combination with Will-O-Wisp.
QC 1/2
 
Added AV and Heat Wave to OO, and mentioned the strength of intimidate in a couple more places. Let me know if you think I should talk about it anywhere else as well.
 
Last edited:
Switch the sets so the offensive one is listed first.

Set (Support)
  • This set should be:
move 1: Flamethrower
move 2: Snarl
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Protect / Roar / Morning Sun
item: Sitrus Berry / Aguav Berry
  • Mention Burn Up in moves, but don't slash it. Rest of the removed stuff should go in Other Options.
Set (Offensive)
  • Remove Life Orb and Crunch and add them to Other Options.
Set Details (Offensive)
  • Talk about the reasons to use Adamant over Jolly and visa versa.
Team Options (Offensive)
  • Wide Guard is useful to block moves like Earthquake and Rock Slide, so name a few users.
Other Options
  • Remove Electrium Z and Grassium Z.
Checks and Counters
  • Change "Nihilego" to "Rock-type Pokemon" and add Aerodactyl.
    • Avoid headers for a single Pokemon whenever possible if the type match up is bad.
  • Add a header for 'Intimidate', but mention that it's only useful against physical sets.

Mostly just trying to make it clearer what the best sets are; the slashes were a bit excessive. Tag me when implemented.
 
Last edited:
Team Options (2)
  • Mention that Celesteela enjoys support Arcanine, as Intimidate and Snarl help it stall, and Flamethrower deals with Pokemon like Kartana that are problematic for it.

Not much else to say, implementation is good!

2/2 QC
 
nah we sticking that defensive set as the first one buddy

offensive items are firium z / electrium z with cb in oo fuck cb

make aguav berry / sitrus berry the item slot, sitrus is yucky :(
 

P Squared

a great unrecorded history
is a Site Content Manageris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
to make the gper's job a little easier--overviews still have to be complete sentences, and first set Move, Item etc should be lowercase. ty!
 
to make the gper's job a little easier--overviews still have to be complete sentences, and first set Move, Item etc should be lowercase. ty!
genuine question--how does overviews being in complete sentences help make the gper's job easier?

the other analyses we uploaded had them in bullet points and i would like that format to retain consistent throughout if not presented a strong reason otherwise
 
the other analyses we uploaded had them in bullet points and i would like that format to retain consistent throughout
I interpreted that as "don't have a sentence fragment as a bullet"; before they pointed it out I had "access to the valuable intimidate ability" as the first bullet and a couple others.
 

Lumari

empty spaces
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris an Administrator Alumnus
TFP Leader
nicely written :)



remove
add / fix (comments); (AC=add comma; RC=remove comma; SC=semicolon)
GP 1/1
[OVERVIEW]

* Arcanine is one of very few Pokemon in the VGC17 format with access to Intimidate, an extremely valuable ability for most teams.
* Its well-rounded stats can be tailored to offensive or defensive roles, allowing it to fit on many different teams.
* Arcanine's deep movepool gives it options to further customize its set and makes it difficult to play around until its moves have been scouted.
* Its Fire typing checks lets it check many threats in the metagame; (SC) Grass-, Ice-, and Steel-types like Kartana, Ninetales, and Celesteela are at a disadvantage both offensively and defensively, and the resistance to Fairy- and opposing Fire-type attacks is often useful.
* Lack of any exceptional stat can make Arcanine underwhelming compared to more specialized offensive or defensive Pokemon.
* Common Ground-, Water-, and Rock-type attackers threaten to KO Arcanine even when weakened.


[SET]
name: Helpful Pupper (Bulky Support)
move 1: Flamethrower
move 2: Snarl
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Protect / Roar / Morning Sun
item: Aguav Berry / Sitrus Berry
ability: Intimidate
nature: Calm
evs: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Flamethrower provides an accurate STAB attack that can be used repeatedly, but Overheat and Burn Up are sometimes chosen for their much higher power.
* Snarl weakens special attackers, (AC) which can ignore Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp, and deals chip damage to both foes. (AP)
* Will-O-Wisp shuts down most physical attackers and provides helpful chip damage.
* Protect is a staple move in VGC, letting Arcanine defend itself while its partner attacks or switches to gain a stronger position. Roar can prevent opposing Trick Room and creates problems for teams focused on Extreme Evoboost, Z-Conversion, or other boosting moves. Recovering with Morning Sun helps Arcanine stay on the field and support its team for even longer, forcing the opponent to have Toxic or very strong attackers in order to break through it. Any of these moves can also replace Snarl or Will-O-Wisp if the team needs that particular support—Will-O-Wisp is often replaced on teams using Tapu Fini.

Set Details
========

* Intimidate is a VGC staple and Arcanine's best ability—it lowers the Attack stat of both foes by one stage every time Arcanine enters the field. One Intimidate turns many strong attacks aimed at your team from OHKOs into 2HKOs and 2HKOs into 3HKOs; after two, most physical attackers become dead weight unless they're hitting for super effective (RH) damage. This Arcanine set has the bulk to switch in and out of battle repeatedly, making Intimidate even more valuable than normal.
* HP is made divisible by 4 so Sitrus Berry will activate after Nature's Madness / Super Fang and Aguav Berry will activate after Guardian of Alola. With 188 EVs in Defense, (AC) Arcanine avoids the 3HKO from Garchomp's Earthquake after Intimidate and Aguav Berry. 76 Special Defense EVs with a Calm Nature let Arcanine survive a Life Orb Tapu Lele's Psychic in Psychic Terrain or a Salamence's Devastating Drake.
* The EVs can easily be adjusted to suit team needs: more Speed can be used to weaken various mid-Speed attackers before they move—156 Speed with a Timid nature outspeeds Modest Tapu Lele, Adamant Krookodile, and any Gyarados; Defense and Special Defense can be balanced to hit benchmarks relevant to the team; Special Attack investment can secure Flamethrower 2-3HKOs 2HKOs or 3HKOs or Overheat or Burn Up OHKOs.
* Aguav Berry and Sitrus Berry both heal Arcanine and help it support its team for longer. Aguav Berry heals 50% compared to Sitrus Berry's 25%, but Sitrus Berry is more reliably activated.

Usage Tips
========

* This Arcanine can often be used as a lead to disrupt the opponent right from the start and prevent them from gaining momentum. However, (AC) this is very risky when the opponent has a Competitive or Defiant user like Milotic or Braviary unless Arcanine's partner can immediately KO them.
* If Arcanine is needed to handle an endgame threat like Celesteela, (AC) it should be preserved with a good amount of health; (SC) otherwise, (AC) it can afford to tank hits while weakening its foes.
* Arcanine can safely switch in on resisted or weaker neutral hits from the likes of Kartana, Muk, and Porygon2—this can be used to spread Intimidate, Snarl,(space)and burns repeatedly throughout the match.
* Arcanine can work alongside nearly any Pokemon, but it is best sent out next to a partner which that has strong attacks or setup options. Arcanine can lower both foes' offenses until they are non- no longer threatening, but it often doesn't threaten them back itself. A partner which that capitalizes on this lack of opposing offensive pressure can often set up a win by getting damage onto a key threat or boosting its stats to sweep.

Team Options
========

* Water-types appreciate Arcanine scaring off Kartana and Tapu Bulu, and they hit Ground- and Rock-type attackers which that threaten Arcanine. Calm Mind Tapu Fini is very often paired with this set, but Araquanid, Milotic, Gastrodon, Lapras, and others can work well depending on the team.
* Grass-types hit the Water-, Rock-, and Ground-types which that threaten Arcanine, while Arcanine walls opposing Fire-types and KOs KOes Steel-types which that would otherwise be problematic for them. Kartana and Tapu Bulu are the most common Grass-type attackers in the format, but others like Lilligant and Dhelmise have niche roles.
* Porygon2 can use Ice Beam to easily KO Garchomp, which otherwise threatens to chunk Arcanine with Earthquake or even OHKO it with Tectonic Rage. Intimidate and Snarl from Arcanine further increase Porygon2's impressive bulk, allowing it to handle nearly any attacks thrown its way. Even Pheromosa can no longer OHKO Porygon2 when affected by Intimidated, and Arcanine easily KOs KOes Pheromosa in return.
* Celesteela uses Arcanine's Intimidate and Snarl support to more easily stall out teams with Leech Seed, and Arcanine hits Pokemon like Kartana which that wall non-Flamethrower variants of Celesteela. In return, (AC) Celesteela can switch in to take certain powerful attacks aimed at Arcanine, such as Tectonic Rage from Garchomp, Shattered Psyche from Tapu Lele, and Hyper Beam from Porygon-Z.
* This Arcanine set generally fits best on bulky offensive teams, which can make full use of Arcanine's defensive support to dish out big damage and safely switch into strong positions.

[SET]
name: Attack Doggo (Physically Offensive)
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Wild Charge
move 3: Extreme Speed
move 4: Protect
item: Firium Z / Electrium Z
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Flare Blitz is chosen as STAB attack despite the recoil because it is vastly more powerful than Arcanine's other physical Fire-type attacks.
* Wild Charge hits Water-types like Tapu Fini, Milotic, and Araquanid which resist Arcanine's STAB. While it won't OHKO these targets, it does deal a large chunk and may even KO after they switch into a Flare Blitz.
* Extreme Speed is used to finish off weakened targets and to put foes into KO range of a faster partner.
* Protect is Protect shields Arcanine from attacks, (or w/e but ya little bit more formal) and this Arcanine set appreciates it because it can't easily shrug off hits without bulk investment.
* Support moves like Roar can replace one of Arcanine's coverage attacks if its partners handle the relevant threats already and/or if the utility is needed.

Set Details
========
* This set is less able to repeatedly switch in and Intimidate foes throughout a match, but Intimidate is still by far Arcanine's best ability. Weakening a physical attacker on even one occasion is often all it takes for Arcanine and its partners to seize momentum.
* Maximum Attack is used to hit as hard as possible.
* Maximum investment with Arcanine's solid base 95 Speed lets it outspeed mid-Speed Pokemon without worrying about Speed creep wars, and bulk investment would often be pointless when using attacks with recoil damage.
* Jolly Arcanine at worst Speed ties with non-Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, usually being faster due to few Tapu Lele being Timid. It also guarantees outrunning non-Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Krookodile, and Xurkitree. Many Pokemon around this Speed tier don't use Speed-boosting natures, (AC) though, so Adamant Arcanine can be used for greater power while still often outspeeding these foes. The increased power allows Adamant Arcanine to probably 2HKO Leftovers Tapu Fini with Wild Charge where Jolly Arcanine almost never will, for example.
* Firium Z gives Arcanine a recoil-free and very powerful Fire-type attack but doesn't boost its coverage moves. Electrium Z lets Arcanine deal massive damage to Tapu Fini, Araquanid, and other Water-types which that usually give it trouble, but it doesn't boost its primary attacking move. Importantly, both of these options are only usable once per battle and inhibit Arcanine's partners from using Z-moves.

Usage Tips
========

* Arcanine is often a fine lead to immediately weaken opposing physical attackers and to pressure foes with Flare Blitz. Wild Charge hits Milotic hard enough that its presence doesn't always force Arcanine to stay in the back, but you should still be wary of it.
* Arcanine should be played carefully if needed to handle a specific threat like Celesteela or Kartana—this set is rather vulnerable to being worn down by neutral hits and the recoil from its own attacks.
* Keeping up momentum is very important with this set—if Arcanine's partner is too passive, (AC) your opponent can easily tank Arcanine's attacks and wear it down. On the other hand, Arcanine can pin many foes when next to another strong attacker.

Team Options
========

* Kartana easily KOs KOes Gastrodon and other Water-types for Arcanine, and Arcanine can KO Celesteela and opposing Kartana. Even Pokemon which that are strong against both members of this pair often struggle to handle them both simultaneously—Alolan Marowak can switch into a Flare Blitz or Leaf Blade, but you threaten the KO on the next turn with the combination of Night Slash and Flare Blitz.
* Tapu Lele's Terrain-boosted Psychic deals heavy damage to everything in the metagame except Steel-types, opposing Tapu Lele, and Muk. The first two go down easily to Arcanine's Inferno Overdrive and nearly to normal Flare Blitz; even though Muk can take Inferno Overdrive, (AC) it definitely won't enjoy it. Using Tapu Lele does have the notable drawback of blocking Arcanine's Extreme Speed—this can be handled with careful Terrain management or by choosing a utility or coverage move for that slot instead.
* Ninetales outspeeds Garchomp and OHKOes Garchomp it with Blizzard, hits Water-types hard with Freeze-Dry, and can set Aurora Veil to increase Arcanine's durability. In return, Arcanine scares away Ninetales's Steel-type nemeses and chunks specially bulky (RH) Pokemon like Snorlax and Tapu Lele, (AC) which can tank Blizzards.
* Water-types have the same type synergy with this set as with the bulky set, (cross-set referencing isn't allowed for a couple reasons--makes updating on-site analyses harder, people only interested in this set shouldn't have to read the analysis for the bulky one as well--so the mention of the bulky set should go, "as with other Arcanine sets" works fine if that's accurate contentwise) being protected from Grass-types and helping protect Arcanine against Ground- and Rock-types. This Arcanine set generally prefers more offensive partners to maintain momentum, such as Araquanid or and Choice Specs Tapu Fini, but bulkier Water-types can work as well.
* Arcanine is weak to two of the most common spread attacks, Rock Slide and Earthquake, so Wide Guard support can be useful. Araquanid, Gigalith, Aerodactyl, Hariyama, and Celesteela are the most viable users.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Life Orb can be used on offensive sets to boost the damage of all of Arcanine's moves, but combined with the natural recoil of Flare Blitz and Wild Charge it wears Arcanine down very quickly.
* Choice Band is another option for offensive sets that boosts all of Arcanine's moves significantly, but it can leave it locked into a suboptimal attack and prevents it from running Protect.
* Safety Goggles makes Arcanine an extremely strong answer to the Torkoal / Lilligant / Oranguru (dashes to slashes) core, but it is useless in most other situations.
* Firium Z can be used on a support set for a one-time nuke, and it is usually used with Overheat or Burn Up to attack once before having to deal with their drawbacks.
* Assault Vest immediately increases Arcanine's special bulk, and combined with Snarl it can make Arcanine extremely difficult for special attackers to break. However, this does prevent Arcanine from using Protect and some of its support moves.
* Close Combat can be used on physically offensive Arcanine to hit Porygon2 and Gigalith, and it is usually seen on Choice Band sets.
* Crunch is an option on physically offensive sets to hit Alolan Marowak, which otherwise walls it Arcanine.
* Helping Hand boosts a partner's attack once and is useful to exert pressure when Arcanine itself doesn't do much to either foe. It is particularly good with a partner who that has strong spread moves.
* Heat Wave gives Arcanine a spread STAB attack, but the spread damage reduction and its imperfect accuracy make it undesirable for some players.
* Bulldoze can be used as a means of speed control, although it requires Arcanine's partner to use Protect or be Ground immune (RH) and is rather weak.
* Toxic can be used to wear down walls like Porygon2 and Gastrodon, especially in conjunction with Morning Sun.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Garchomp and Krookodile can both OHKO Arcanine with Tectonic Rage through Intimidate (RC) or potentially 2HKO it with Earthquake depending on EV spreads. Krookodile is naturally slower than Arcanine but usually has near-maximum Speed investment, and Garchomp is always faster than Arcanine. Mudsdale is much slower than Arcanine, but it doesn't take much damage from Arcanine's attacks due to its good defenses and can avoid being burned if Misty Terrain is up or Arcanine isn't running it. High Horsepower misses the OHKO at -1 (RC) but will 2HKO even bulky sets.

**Water-types**: Many common Water-types in the meta give Arcanine problems. Pelipper and Golduck can OHKO Arcanine with rain-boosted Scalds, although offensive Arcanine can outspeed Pelipper and KO Pelipper it with Wild Charge. Araquanid's Water Bubble makes Liquidation nearly OHKO Arcanine through Intimidate, makes Hydro Vortex easily KO any Arcanine, and even prevents Arcanine from burning Araquanid. Milotic's Competitive ability boosts its Special Attack two stages when any of its stats is lowered, turning Milotic into a massive threat if Arcanine tries to Intimidate or Snarl its partner—at +2, even an uninvested Milotic can OHKO Arcanine with Scald. Tapu Fini's Misty Surge prevents Arcanine from using Will-O-Wisp to burn it or its partner, it can deal heavy damage to Arcanine with Muddy Water, and it can use Calm Mind to offset Special Attack drops from Snarl. Gastrodon easily takes attacks from any common Arcanine set and can use Recover to stick around and annoy Arcanine throughout a match.

**Rock-type Pokemon**: Nihilego outspeeds Arcanine and OHKOes almost any Arcanine set with Power Gem if holding a Life Orb and can still OHKO offensive sets without a boosting item. Aerodactyl outspeeds Arcanine and does solid damage with Rock Slide, although it won't 2HKO at -1 and may only 4HKO bulky Sitrus berry sets. Gigalith is much slower than Arcanine but is often used under Trick Room, and it easily OHKOes with Continental Crush even at -1.

**Tapu Lele**: Tapu Lele doesn't enjoy taking Flare Blitz from offensive Arcanine sets, but it can deal massive damage to any Arcanine with Psychic or even OHKO with a Terrain-boosted Shattered Psyche. Psychic Terrain also prevents offensive Arcanine from using Extreme Speed to pick off Tapu Lele or its partners at low HP.

**Alolan Marowak**: Marowak's typing and Lightningrod Lightning Rod ability allow it to take attacks from Arcanine with ease—even super-effective Snarl from defensive sets does very little, and offensive sets can hit it for resisted damage at best unless they run Crunch. Meanwhile, Marowak's Bonemerang may 2HKO Arcanine through Sitrus Berry and Intimidate (RC) and will always 3HKO even against very defensive Arcanine holding Aguav Berry.

**Braviary**: Defiant gives Braviary a net one-stage boost to its Attack whenever Arcanine Intimidates it, making it extremely dangerous. +1 Brave Bird may KO Arcanine without a boosting item, and Life Orb Brave Bird or Supersonic Skystrike will OHKO any Arcanine. At +1, Life Orb Braviary can OHKO Tapu Fini with Brave Bird and most Porygon2 with Superpower. Offensive Arcanine sets outspeed and may OHKO no-bulk Braviary, but you must still be wary of Adrenaline Orb, Choice Scarf, and bulkier sets.

**Intimidate**: Opposing Intimidate Pokemon can weaken physically offensive Arcanine sets and cause them to miss KOs on various targets, but specially based (RH) Arcanine are unaffected.
 
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