Gen 7 VGC / Battle Spot / Doubles OU Cores Thread
Tapu Fini + Kartana + Arcanine (Also Known as "AFK")
![[Image: tapufini.png]](http://pokemonforever.com/images/pokeimages/gen7/tapufini.png)
![[Image: kartana.png]](http://pokemonforever.com/images/pokeimages/gen7/kartana.png)
![[Image: arcanine.png]](http://pokemonforever.com/images/pokeimages/gen1/arcanine.png)
- Pokémon featured: Tapu Fini + Kartana + Arcanine
- Metagame: S/M VGC 17
- Core type: Bulky Offense
- Sets:
At this time making this post, the core between Tapu Fini, Kartana, and Arcanine has picked up as arguably one of the most popular in the early VGC 17 format thanks to its fantastic synergy both defensive and offensive standpoint. Right after the London Intercontinental Championships, there was a rise in defensive oriented teams centered around Celesteela, Gastrodon, Tapu Bulu, and other Pokemon which relied on passive damage such as Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, etc to wear down the opposition over time. Tapu Fini wasn't explored as much at this time, given it was the "least" used Tapu out of the the four due to the "lack" of beneficial to one of it STABs. Eventually, there was a turn to use Tapu Fini's Water/Fairy-typing for offensive purpose with the Specs set and was popularize by Japanese Battle Spot players and later Sejun Park after a recent tour victory. Tapu Fini can hit rather hard thanks to its Water- and Fairy-type attacks such as Scald, Muddy Water, Dazzling Gleam, and Moonblast and still has an impressive bulk of 115 Defense and 130 Special Defense to cover for itself. To top it off, Misty Terrain can effectively "block" all status ailments on the field, suppressing opposing Wisp, Thunder Wave, Freeze chance, and Sleep.
Kartana is a rather peculiar Grass/Steel-type Pokemon with paper-thin special defense, yet a whooping 109 speed and 181 attack stat, already one point higher than that of Primal Groudon. Despite having the low special defense, Kartana high attack and speed stat paired with its Grass/Steel-typing makes it capable of being one of Tapu Fini's partners to combat the opposing Tapus. Thanks to its typing, Kartana is able to deal with opposing Poison-type as they can't such it and can tank one Thunderbolt for Tapu Fini, though AV sets have been more common as of late to take better special hits. The main purpose of using Kartana in this core is to hack-and-slash against opposing Water-, Rock-, Fairy-, Ground-, and Ice-types which some directly threaten Arcanine. In terms of movepool, Kartana is rather limited to Leaf Blade and Smart Strike for STABS, then Scared Sword and Night Slash for coverage, and finally Sword Dance for setup potential. Speaking of setup, if Kartana manages to pickup an OHKO, Beast Boost will increase its attack stat, further making it a threat.
Last we have the Fire Doge Arcanine, one of the most commonly used Fire-type in the format, likely due to the exclusion of many. Regardless, Arcanine completes this core by giving its Fire-typing to aid in both Kartana and Tapu Fini against Fairy- and Steel-type Pokemon while handle opposing Grass-, Ice-, and Bug-types which threatens them. Some Arcanine sets are build defensively to take advantage of the Intimidate pressure and using support moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Snarl to suppress the opponents' damage output. Both Tapu Fini and Kartana appreciate any stat drops against the opponents as it allows them to take opposing hits better and retaliate with their strong STAB options. Other Arcanine sets utilize their physical movepool with Flare Blitz, Wild Charge, Close Combat, and Extreme Speed to pick off certain Pokemon the defensive sets won't have. Given its Intimidate and above average defensive stats, Arcanine can make for a great pivot switch for Tapu Fini or Kartana whenever they need protection.
