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Multitype
- Type changes depending on the held plate. Prevents item loss.
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Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
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Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
120
|
- |
381 |
444 |
- |
| Atk |
120
|
248 |
276 |
339 |
372 |
| Def |
120
|
248 |
276 |
339 |
372 |
| SpA |
120
|
248 |
276 |
339 |
372 |
| SpD |
120
|
248 |
276 |
339 |
372 |
| Spe |
120
|
248 |
276 |
339 |
372 |
Overview
Clad in His steel armor, Arceus enters the battlefield ready to deliver His divine Judgment on His creations. Steel Arceus laughs at the horde of elemental moves that fail to pierce His impenetrable armor. Even the fangs of the mighty Dragon-types, whom He created to protect the world, fail to leave a scratch on Arceus's polished exterior. Although, Steel Arceus dislikes the quakes of the earth and the raging fires, one should never overlook Him, for truly no other forme of the Creator is as resilient as He.
With its impressive defenses and wide array of resistances thanks to its Steel typing, Steel Arceus can pull off a Calm Mind set without breaking a sweat. Access to Recover prevents Arceus from being taken down easily, and even allows it to wall Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Palkia after a few Calm Mind boosts. Steel has decent coverage in Ubers, but is resisted by Water- and Fire-types, which are fairly common. Roar can be used to phaze out opposing setup sweepers such as Bulk Up Dialga before they get out of control, and racks up passive damage when used alongside entry hazards. Thunder can be used to deal with Pokemon who resist Steel-type attacks, such as Kyogre, but it is not recommended unless rain support from Kyogre can be provided. Will-O-Wisp allows Arceus to cripple physical attackers such as Zekrom and works very well thanks to Arceus's excellent Speed. The combination of Calm Mind and Will-O-Wisp makes Steel Arceus very hard to take out. Thanks to Steel Arceus's immunity to Toxic and access to Recover, it can function as a deadly stallbreaker capable of defeating stalling machines such as Blissey one-on-one.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The EVs are designed to grant Arceus maximum bulk, while also giving it enough Speed to tie with other offensive variants of Arceus. Speed and HP EVs can be transferred to Special Attack if immediate firepower is preferred over durability; 116 EVs with a neutral nature is the absolute minimum Speed you should run with Steel Arceus, though, so it can still outspeed Garchomp. 168 Speed EVs is probably preferred though as it allows Steel Arceus to outspeed all non-Choice Scarf Kyurem-B, Kyurem-W, and Rayquaza, which can be invaluable especially considering Steel Arceus is already a good check to both. A fully defensive EV set can be run by moving the Speed EVs into Defense and using a Bold nature.
Kyogre makes a fantastic partner to Steel Arceus thanks to its ability to check Groudon. The rain Kyogre brings along also negates Steel Arceus's weakness to Fire-type moves, and allows it to wield a perfectly accurate Thunder. Kyogre can also check most variants of Reshiram and Ho-Oh, both of whom pose a huge threat to Steel Arceus. Steel Arceus pairs up well with almost any Dragon-type as it can take Ice- and Dragon-type hits for them, while they can take Fire-, Water-, Electric-, and usually even Ground-type moves for it. Rayquaza deserves a special mention because it is immune to Earthquake and has excellent synergy with Steel Arceus on the whole.
Although Steel-type STAB is admittedly not the best in Ubers, with many of the common Pokemon in the tier—most notably Kyogre—resisting it, Steel Arceus can still be a potent user of Swords Dance. After a Swords Dance, Arceus's Attack stat hits a magnificent 744. Iron Head provides a reliable STAB move, and its 30% flinch chance is icing on the cake. Earthquake has excellent neutral coverage in Ubers in tandem with Iron Head, being resisted by only a handful of Pokemon. ExtremeSpeed can be used over Earthquake to deal with faster sweepers such as Mewtwo, but it is not nearly as powerful as Earthquake. In the last slot, Recover allows Arceus to make full use of its bulk, and gives it plenty of opportunities to set up.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
A more defensive spread of 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Speed can be used to give Arceus some staying power. Outrage can be used to destroy the plethora of Dragon-types in Ubers, but a Steel Arceus locked into Outrage is easy to revenge kill.
As opposing support Groudon have a field day with this set, offensive variants of Kyogre and Palkia are great teammates. Just like the previous set, most Dragon-types make good teammates for Steel Arceus as they resist most of each other's weaknesses. However, one must be cautious about pairing Dialga or Zekrom with Steel Arceus, as it compounds the team's weakness to Ground.
Other Options
Arceus's extensive movepool grants it no dearth of options. Cosmic Power can be used to boost both of Arceus's defensive stats, and works well with Steel Arceus's numerous resistances. Perish Song lets Arceus defeat late-game sweepers such as Kyogre and Dark Arceus, and can create a setup opportunity for a teammate such as Rayquaza. Earth Power puts a dent in Heatran, but has no real use otherwise.
Checks and Counters
Any Pokemon capable of dishing out powerful Fire-, Fighting-, or Ground-type attacks is a threat to Steel Arceus. Ho-Oh, Reshiram, and Groudon can all obliterate Steel Arceus with their STAB moves; the latter is especially dangerous as the sunlight it summons powers up the Fire-type moves that Steel Arceus hates. Heatran can switch on Will-O-Wisp, grab a Flash Fire boost, and do a large chunk of damage with Flamethrower. If the sun is up, Mewtwo can fry Steel Arceus with Fire Blast, which easily OHKOes. Kyogre, Ground Arceus, Fire Arceus, and Fighting Arceus can all engage in a Calm Mind war with Steel Arceus and eventually win thanks to their natural type advantage. Garchomp and Terrakion can turn Steel Arceus to scrap metal with their powerful STAB moves, but they cannot switch in. Choice Scarf Heracross, although rare, can outspeed Steel Arceus and even stomach an unboosted Judgment if it needs to; in return, it has no problem bringing Steel Arceus down with its STAB Close Combat. Steel-types such as Skarmory and Ferrothorn can be a nuisance to the Swords Dance set; Skarmory in particular laughs at all of Steel Arceus's moves and can phaze it out with Whirlwind.
