First-turn Arcanine at +4?! - with 0kamii

[0kamii]

Hey, everybody! It's 0kamii, and today I continue my streak of analyzing standard VGC mons in non-standard ways...

To reiterate from my last VGC analysis, I'm still not having as much fun as I probably should with these top tiers mons. Worlds is around the corner, and if anyone tried bringing unorthodox strategies to Worlds, we can expect one of two things. Either they're going to be demolished and made a laughing stock, or they're going to be Se-Jun Park. Either way, it's a high-risk-high-reward situation most players don't want to gamble. Luckily, I'm not most players! I just love Arcanine, and I'm thrilled to see him doing so well in this meta, though honestly I haven't actually used one at all this season. For one reason or another, it just never fit on my team, but maybe it will today? Let's go over Arcanine's strengths, weaknesses, and some of the other aspects of this Legendary Pokémon that make it the King of VGC 2017!

Type:

Weaknesses: x2,  x2,  x2
Resistances: x1/2 , x1/2 , x1/2 , x1/2 , x1/2 , x1/2
Immunities: None

 

I never realized that Fire-Types naturally had six resistances. Learn something new every day. And they're not just for show either. Fire-Type resistance helps against opposing Arcanine, Ice is good for Alolan Ninetales, and Steel and Fairy...do I even have to say it? Arcanine is great against most of the Tapus, except Tapu Fini, but we'll get to how to solve that later. Rock is somewhat troublesome because of Gigalith and Nihilego, and the biggest Ground-Type in the format is Garchomp...as always. Looking over Arcanine's type, by default it's starting way ahead of some of the other mons I've analyzed. It only gets better from here.

Stats:

 

HP: 90 (150 - 197)
Attack: 110 (103 - 178)
Defense: 80 (76 - 145)
Sp. Attack: 100 (94 - 167)
Sp. Defense: 80 (76 - 145)
Speed: 95 (90 - 161)

 

Gees. I don't even know what I'm supposed to bold here, it's all rather impressive. It's not often that we see such a well-rounded pokémon in such a diverse format. With good HP, awesome Attack, admirable defenses, and comfortable Speed, Arcanine has the stats to fill in a number of interesting roles. The two most common are the heavy offense, and the defensive variants, but we'll get to those later. Stat-wise, there isn't much to say. Arcanine is a jack of all trades, but is he a master of none? Well, no. He's actually quite good at all of its niche roles. Arcanine is like the VGC 2017 Swiss army knife. Need offensive pressure? He's got you. Need some support and a mon that can take a few hits? No problem. Want someone who's a little bit of both? Darn it, Arcanine. Why do you have to be so useful?

Abilities:

Arcanine has all there of its abilities accessible in this metagame, but I think it's clear which one is king. Intimidate is unparallell in usefulness, and it should always be the ability that you choose. Flash Fire is better for Singles, and Justified...we'll get to that. For now, there's not much to say in this section. Intimidate is so useful in Doubles that player Nico Davide Cognetta actually used two Intimidate pokémon on his London Internationals team. Wow, I mention that tournament a lot, huh? I guess I'm jealous I didn't get to go. But anyway, for VGC, Intimidate is better. That -1 to Attack can, and often will, be a lifesaver. As for Justified, well...that post title isn't just click-bait.

Movepool:

Continuing Arcanine's track record as the king of VGC Doubles, at least this year, he sports a wide movepool as well. I mentioned before that Tapu Fini is one of Arcanine's only real problems, and that problem is handled by the fact that Arcanine gets Wild Charge. Which also means Arcanine can use the Electrium Z. Now that isn't something I expected to see at the NA International Championships. But sure enough, people used it! For STAB, Arcanine isn't lacking in the physical or Special department. Physically, Arcanine gets Flare Blitz, Fire Fang, and Flame Wheel. Obiously, Flare Blitz will be your best friend. For special STAB, Arcanine has a surprising amount of options. To name a few, it gets Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Overheat, Heat Wave, and even a unique attack called Burn Up. This move has a base power of 130, but is then rendered useless until Arcanine is switched out. I've seen it get some usage in tournaments, but I'm still leaning towards Flamethrower just for the consistency. In terms of support, Arcanine gets a handy number of moves. Some of these include Snarl, Will-O-Wisp, Helping Hand, Roar, and Toxic. Other notable moves it gets, while not particularly meta, are Thunder Fang, Close Combat, Morning Sun, Crunch, and Outrage.

Overall:

Here's the section, above all else, that I'm going keep short. Arcanine is awesome. We know it is, as does the rest of the metagame. It can fill virtually any role you need, and do a damn good job doing it. Bascially I haven't told you anything you didn't already know, but isn't that the story every time I do a standard VGC mon? As always, here's the link to the damage calculator for the sets below: (https://pokemonshowdown.com/damagecalc/). Today, I'm going to do three. Two of which have Intimidate, the last one however, well...you'll see...

The Sets:

 

Set 1 - Attack Dog

Arcanine @ Firium Z/Life Orb/Aguav Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Protect/Morning Sun
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge/Close Combat
- Extreme Speed

 

Eh, what do you want from me? There's really isn't a best set for Arcanine. It's kind of just a pokémon you add to your team to fill in the gaps. Arcanine is fairly bukly, so I've had some success running Morning Sun in place of Protect. Though Protect is always useful too. Choose either one based on personal preference. Wild Charge and Close Combat are each excellent coverage moves. I'd suggest prioritizing whether you're more afraid of Snorlax, or Fini. Personally, because most teams have a Tapu Koko, I prefer Close Combat. Extreme Speed is very useful for picking up those easy KOs, and Flare Blitz is your best STAB physical move. This set is pretty basic, but it's not like you'd want it any other way. Arcanine is good for a reason.

 

Set 2 - Good Boy! (a.k.a. Bulkanine)

Arcanine @ Aguav Berry/Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 Sp. Def
Nature
- Protect
- Flamethrower/Burn Up/Heat Wave
- Snarl/Helping Hand
- Will-O-Wisp/Toxic

 

I take no credit for this set. I pulled it straight from the Pokémon Damage Calculator and made minor tweaks to the set during testing. Arcanine's different special moves vary in usage, but my favorites to use were Burn Up and Heat Wave. Never underestimate a move that hits multiple targets, and even with no Sp. Attack investment, Heat Wave OHKOs Kartana 100% of the time. Unless it holds a Focus Sash. Protect is just a nature choice in Doubles, and Snarl can help against some of the more Specially offensive pokémon like Lele and Koko. I'm hesitant to add Will-O-Wisp here because of Snorlax getting Facade. CureLax and deal a 2HKO to Bulkanine once burned with Facade at +1, and due to Snorlax's popularity, this is a situation you'll certainly have to face. Helping Hand is good for helping allies pick up necessary KOs, provided Arcanine isn't doing that itself. But there's still one more set I just have to include.

 

Set 3 - Wait, you're running WHAT?!

Arcanine @ Aguav Berry/Iapapa Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge/Close Combat
- Extreme Speed

 

Okay, okay. Yeah, go ahead. Make joke, crack a sneer. Leave a comment saying I'm a madman. It's not like I haven't seen it before. Dare I say it, but this almost looks like something Verlisify would come up with, and we all know what a competitive genius he is... . However, I have an argument I want to make here. For this set, I paired Arcanine with a Weavile, and Arcanine's Speed plus its +4 boost to Attack let it OHKO anything it hit. Well, except Garchomp. Is it gimmicky? Admittedly, yes. But I still won with it! As always, feel free to take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I've won one local tournament and have never been invited to compete on a national level. So no one is obligated to listen to me. All I'm saying is that Arcanine at +4 does some...good damage. Make of that what you will. Most teams will be running one of the first two sets, so only use this last one if you think you can make it work. I certainly did, and it put a skip in my step once I got it working. I had fun with it, and isn't that what Pokémon is supposed to do?

Partners:

 

 

This pairing is exclusive for my Justified strategy. Weavile is one of the fastest legal mons in the metagame, and that should get off Beat Up to activate Justified without much of a problem. You'll still want a Focus Sash on it, though. Not much else to say about this one. If you're feeling bold, go for it! But if you're feeling a bit more secured, try the tried and true pairings below.

 

 

 

I made a post a few days ago about these two, and after some observations, they cover each other well. Intimidate helps Bulu reduce damage from Poison Jab, and Grassy Terrain takes some pessure off Arcanine from Earthquake. They can also hit most of the metagame for at least neutral damage, and since Bulu is the slowest of the Tapus, it'll always win the terrrain war. I'll probably get around to building a team with these two once the metagame transitions into VGC 2018, but for now this pair has gained enough popularity that we very well may see it at Worlds.

 

 

 

This is a pair that graced the NA International Championships battles more times than one. I often saw these two be sent out together, and aside from the mutual Ground-Type weakness, they cover one another pretty well. The only concerned would be to avoid being predictable. As this has become a fairly standard lead, people will likely send in Garchomp first to try and counter it. So play cautiously.

Conclusion:

So, yeah. Not sure what y'alls expected from me. Arcanine is being lauded this metagame, deservedly so too. It's great just a good pokémon no matter how you use it. Even if it's Justified like mine. While standard mons aren't my favorite thing to review, you all seem to like it, and I'll be sure to post a poll asking which one you guys want to see next. Hopefully one of these days I can get back to analyzing the unconventional ones. That's where my heart is. In the meantime, I have a few other posts planned, and feel free to check out some of the other VGC analyses I've done. Some of them may just surprise you!

1) Emolga: (http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-Emo...ith-0kamii)
2) Alomomola: (http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-Alo...ith-0kamii)
3) Rampardos: (http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-Ram...ith-0kamii)
4) Poliwrath: (http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-Pol...ith-0kamii)
5) Bastiodon: (http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-Bas...ith-0kamii)
6) Jolteon: (http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-Jol...ith-0kamii)
7) Drifblim: (http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-It-...t-s-a-Blim)

That's all for today, I'll be back on Friday with an as-of-yet undecided post! Looking forward to it, whatever it may be! I look forward to answering your question and having weird...rational discussions. And as always, if you think I'm wrong, or a moron, or trying to encourage bad play, please try and be respectful about it. Again, I'm not forcing anyone to listen to me. Thanks for reading everyone. Battle onwards, friends!

- 0kamii

[Reis]

its not something Verlisify would come up with because it

A. Has more than 1 attacking move
B. Doesn't have Double Team

[0kamii]

@Reis

Ah, yes. Very true. I forgot about that. Appreciate the feedback, Reis. Glad to see you read the post.

- 0kamii

[Reis]

(Jul 19, 2017, 09:32 AM)0kamii Wrote: @Reis

Ah, yes. Very true. I forgot about that. Appreciate the feedback, Reis. Glad to see you read the post.

- 0kamii

i refresh the forums every 10 minutes, I see everything ;_;

[Sharkfang2193]

Awsome work man thanks for taking the time to do this i always seem to either learn something new about VGC or about other member's opinions and thoughts and just the overall community here now I feel like if I were to try out for VGC i wouldn't look like a total noob

p.s. - Actually am a total noob to VGC

[croissant]

good stuff, i'd also mention tapu fini and kartana as partners since AFK is one of the most, if not the most well-known cores of vgc17.

[0kamii]

@Reis Power to you. I'll always appreciate the input. So you won't hear any complains from me.

@Sharkfang2193 Thank you, Sharkfang! Good to know someone is getting some use out of these posts. To be honest, when it comes to being a noob, it's okay to mess up. But you learn more from battling than studying battling. I recommend Pokémon Showdown if you have the software to run it. My name's Kayaba Ao on there, if you ever want to battle.

@"écarlate" Will do. I'll make an extension later. By the way, do you intentionally make your name difficult to tag? Gees. I was trying for like 5 minutes for the pop-up to register the username. If so, I congratulate you!

- 0kamii

[Spyro190]

(Jul 19, 2017, 08:29 AM)0kamii Wrote:  

Set 1 - Attack Dog

Arcanine @ Firium Z/Life Orb/Aguav Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Protect/Morning Sun
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge/Close Combat
- Extreme Speed

  

Set 3 - Wait, you're running WHAT?!

Arcanine @ Aguav Berry/Iapapa Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 4 Sp. Def / 248 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge/Close Combat
- Extreme Speed

 

Partners:

 

 

This pairing is exclusive for my Justified strategy. Weavile is one of the fastest legal mons in the metagame, and that should get off Beat Up to activate Justified without much of a problem.

First of all I want to say st about those spreads. When a pokèmon has equivalent Def and SpD and you have no calcs to keep valid, you always should think about Download's user. In a 1vs1 late game situation, 4 EVs distributed in Def give P2 a +1 in SpA wich risk to make you lose. 248 EVs at lv50 with odd IVs give the same of 244 EVs; furthermore, 252 EVs should be preferred to reach the speed tie with opponents' max Spe Arcanine, Silvally and Tapu Lele.

Tl;dr they should be changed in 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe.

To be IT: Weavile seems not so good as BUpper. It gets STAB, has quite high base Atk and without running 252 Atk EVs risks to become unusefull. Compared to Whimsicott it's completely inferior. The cotton ball does no considerable damage, has a lot of support moves like Tailwind and a nice typing synergy with Arcanine. A FGW core including Justified Arcanine and Beat Up Whimsicott is a more reliable way to start building a team.
That said, Weavile is objectively the only viable alternative to Whimsicott in VGC17.

[0kamii]

@Spyro190

Thanks for all the advice, Spyro190. I've been playing VGC a lot this metagame, and those pesky 4 point differences always seem to get me. Just when I think I have them mastered. Ugh.

As for Weavile, I used Weavile mainly for preference reasons. Since I figured most people would ignore my suggestion for a Beat Up/Justified strategy, I kept it pretty personal. I didn't try Whimsicott, but I should definitely look into that and I'll update the post as needed.

You critique has been overall very useful! Thanks so much for the feedback.

- 0kamii

[RetroTyphlosion]

@0kamii I love Arcanine! It's got to be one of my favorite Pokemon right now!
Here's why:
1. Its fast.
2. Fast Arcanine+Trick Room=Slow Arcanine.
3. I have a Scald Gastrodon.
4. I have a Liquidation Araquanid.
5. I have a Rock Slide/Stone Edge/ Earthquake Gigalith.
Gosh, I love this thing!