Arcanine has always been strong on the attacking side with nice stats on both ends, but it has often lacked the moves to back up the statistics, particularly on the physical spectrum. Flare Blitz gives the legendary dog a powerful physical Fire attack that is sure to put a big dent in anything that doesn't resist it. ExtremeSpeed's usefulness goes without saying, but even without the priority modifier it is still a strong 80 base power attack that can do consistent damage. Coming from Arcanine's naturally high Attack stat and further boosted by Choice Band, it can be used to pick off faster Pokémon with ease. For example, Hitmonlee is often Scarfed and can outrun Arcanine to land a hefty Close Combat, but a Choice Band ExtremeSpeed has the power to OHKO with Stealth Rock damage. Arcanine can do upwards of 85% to other physically frail sweepers such as Houndoom, Espeon, Primeape, Roserade, and Swellow, giving it great utility as a revenge killer and a check against these fast threats. The last two slots are used to cover against Arcanine's common switch ins, namely Rock and Water-types. Thunder Fang's low base power can often be a letdown against the bulkier Water-types such as Slowbro, but can be used to 2HKO Milotic and Azumarill. Iron Head won't be doing enough to 2HKO the likes of Regirock, but it will almost always get a 3HKO, and in situations like this the 30% flinch rate may really pay off. Overheat can be run to hit the physical walls harder on their weaker side, and will out-damage Flare Blitz against the likes of Steelix and Cloyster. Arcanine has quite a limited movepool, and that is the extent of its viable attacking options. However, Arcanine's tendency to lure in bulky Pokémon not fearful of ExtremeSpeed can be used to its advantage, and Toxic can be run in the last slot as a crippling surprise for many of its checks. Having a teammate lay down Stealth Rock can turn many 3HKOs on Arcanine's common switch-ins into 2HKOs. Most notable out of these is Milotic - after taking Stealth Rock damage, even the bulkiest of Milotic will be 2HKOed by a Choice Band Thunder Fang. Stealth Rock also means that Moltres won't come in on Arcanine with impunity, as Flare Blitz is an easy 2HKO on a 50% Moltres, and Thunder Fang will get a clean OHKO. Since you will often find yourself wanting to bring Arcanine in to ExtremeSpeed a weakened sweeper, keeping the rocks off your own side of the field will greatly increase Arcanine's lifespan, as well as giving you the freedom to switch it in and out and abuse Intimidate and ExtremeSpeed. Blastoise pairs up well with Arcanine as a Rapid Spinner, with good defenses on both sides allowing it to come in on Surfs as well as Rock Slide and Earthquake from Regirock and Arcanine's other physically oriented counters. Blastoise can scare off Regirock and Moltres with the threat of a super effective Surf, and has Toxic to cripple other bulky Water-types, weakening them and making them far less reliable switch-ins to Arcanine. Being able to come in on the majority of Arcanine's counters gives Blastoise ample time to Rapid Spin, and can continue to support Arcanine throughout the game.
Special Arcanine is more versatile than the physical type, but not quite as strong. Flamethrower and Dragon Pulse combine for excellent type coverage and accuracy and are the foundation of this set. Fire Blast is useful for compensating for Arcanine's average Special Attack, and is the preferred choice for a Scarf set so that it can do acceptable amounts of damage. Beyond that, Arcanine doesn't have too many special attacking options. While physical Arcanine dearly misses the ability to use Hidden Power, special sets greatly benefit from the move's ability to help it cover particular threats. Grass is recommended, as it will be able to put the hurt on the Rock- and Water-types that tend to switch into it. Whereas physical Arcanine missed the 2HKO on Slowbro with Thunder Fang but was able to get Milotic, Hidden Power Grass works in the opposite way, hitting Slowbro on its lower Special Defense for up to 75% of its health. It will also 2HKO any Regirock that doesn't run a Special Defense boosting nature after Stealth Rock damage, provided a sandstorm is not raging. Overheat works well as a hit-and-run move for Specs Arcanine, similar to Salamence's Draco Meteor in OU (complete with Intimidate and a Stealth Rock weakness!). However, Scarf sets will prefer Fire Blast's consistent damage, as without a Special Attack boosting item, Overheat may fail to get crucial KOs, and a second Fire Blast will outdamage two uses of Overheat if the first failed to KO. However, it is hard to recommend an Arcanine set without ExtremeSpeed, as the usefulness of that move cannot be emphasized enough. Toxic Spikes support is particularly helpful for this set in wearing down Milotic (without disadvantaging yourself by giving it a Marvel Scale boost) and Chansey, and in particular will stop Chansey from staying in and trying to outstall Arcanine with Softboiled. Roserade makes a fine partner for Arcanine, as it has a Water resistance and a decent Special Defense stat for switching into Surf. Milotic can be scared off with the threat of a super effective Leaf Storm, while Roserade can take advantage of its own low HP stat by annoying Chansey to no end with Leech Seed. All this gives it plenty of time to set up two layers of Toxic Spikes, which will make sweeping with Specs Arcanine a lot easier.
Arcanine's good all-round stats allow it to be both bulky and yet hit extremely hard at the same time. This fact, combined with its Intimidate ability and access to ExtremeSpeed, allows it to function as a very effective anti-lead. Flare Blitz is a high powered STAB attack that does big damage to pretty much anything that doesn't resist it. ExtremeSpeed is the real crux of the set, allowing Arcanine to beat Focus Sash users without having to take another attack, and can 2HKO some faster, frailer leads. Against Arcanine, the bulky Water switch in is almost inevitable, and a well-timed Toxic can cripple both Slowbro and Milotic (despite activating Marvel Scale, if it doesn't have Rest, it's not going to enjoy Toxic). Steel-types never switch into Arcanine, and Poison is often paired with Grass, meaning there is usually very little risk involved in using Toxic. Arcanine has a couple of different moves that all work well in the last slot. Hidden Power Grass is noted because otherwise, Rock- and Water-types fear next to nothing from this set. Since Kabutops and Omastar are occasionally seen as Stealth Rock / Spiker leads, being able to hit them with a 4x super effective attack has great benefits. Hidden Power Grass also lets Arcanine do a bit of damage to incoming Slowbro, although with no Special Attack investment the damage isn't enough to 2HKO. Overheat is another good choice for the last slot. It can be used when you're low on health and can't afford the recoil from Flare Blitz, when you've been Intimidated, or when you want to hit high-Defense Pokémon, such as Steelix, Cloyster, and Gligar, convincingly hard. Attack is maximized to give Arcanine as strong a Flare Blitz and ExtremeSpeed as possible, and to allow it to put out enough damage in the lead scenario to KO the opposing Pokémon. The Speed EVs allow it to outrun Adamant Honchkrow and +Speed base 60s, while the remaining EVs are allocated into HP to bulk Arcanine up. Lum Berry is a great item on a leading Pokémon, allowing Arcanine to easily come out on top against Roserade and Hypnosis Yanmega leads by using Flare Blitz and ExtremeSpeed. One of the most appealing things about this set is that it can function as a good revenge killer with ExtremeSpeed later on in the game as well. It is not limited to just the lead scenario, and with its decent defensive stats and Intimidate, can become a real asset for the team later on too by revenge killing fast, frail sweepers. Since this set will be leading, it generally doesn't need too much in the way of support to be effective. However, if you're not running Hidden Power Grass, having a way to deal with Rock/Water-types is recommended, as otherwise they can just sit there and Spike (Omastar) or Swords Dance (Kabutops) away. Having a good switch-in to Moltres is useful as well, as Arcanine can't really damage it outside of poisoning it.
Arcanine's ExtremeSpeed is just as powerful as Lucario's, but the fiery dog misses out on Swords Dance to instantly double its Attack stat so has to do with the weaker Howl. However, Arcanine's overall bulk and Intimidate gives it the staying power to get multiple Howls off and boost its Attack to similarly high levels. This is best used in late game when things have been weakened a bit. Switch in when it is advantageous, Howl as many times as feasible, and get to work. Attack is maximized to make ExtremeSpeed as powerful as possible, and the Speed EVs allow Arcanine to outrun neutral natured base 85s such as Toxicroak and Nidoking. The remaining EVs are placed into Arcanine's HP to allow it to take hits better as it tries to get Howls under its belt. Generally, Arcanine likes to be fast, but provided you can secure a few Howls, you can afford to be slower since you can use ExtremeSpeed to finish off faster, more fragile threats. Since Arcanine has no recovery outside of Leftovers, it greatly appreciates starting off with 100% health instead of 75% when it comes into battle. Keeping Stealth Rock off the field could mean Arcanine gets in one more Howl, giving it just enough power to sweep with ExtremeSpeed. With the limited coverage provided by running only three attacking moves, you should have a way of dealing with either Rock or Water-types, depending on which of Thunder Fang or Iron Head you decide to run. Screen support can greatly extend Arcanine's longevity and allow it to potentially get twice as many Howls in, and Gardevoir and Uxie make good choices to support Arcanine with. Gardevoir has a high Special Defense stat and Thunderbolt to scare off bulky Water-types, and Uxie can use its great mixed walling stats in conjunction with Toxic to wear opponents down, as well as using Memento to further weaken the foe as Arcanine switches in.
Arcanine can be a valuable asset to any team that requires an effective shuffler. Its real selling point is its ability Intimidate, which drops the opponent's Attack by one stage and helps you to deal with physical sweepers much more easily. Arcanine can force the opponent to reveal team members by utilizing Roar on Pokemon like Chansey, Registeel, Steelix and Scyther as they switch out in fear of its STAB Fire moves, and expelling the switch-in, which also reveals the opponent's best answer for Arcanine in general. This is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of entry hazards on the field which chip away at the opponent's health slowly, wearing them down for the sweepers on your team. Since Flare Blitz receives STAB and has 120 base power, it can scare away many foes and you will find yourself juggling the opponent's team the entire match if they don't pack strong Water-, Rock- or Ground-type moves. To demonstrate how bulky Arcanine is, here are some damage calculations of common attacks it might have to take:
Rest is essential to the set because it allows Arcanine to heal off the damage after taking previous blows from the opponent. The key move in this set is Sleep Talk, which can surprise an opponent because it is usually the last thing they will find on an Arcanine. Sleep Talk can randomly fire off Flare Blitz or Roar which can make the opponent double-think before they switch in their Arcanine counter. When selected by Sleep Talk, Roar also loses its negative priority, and so can be used to phaze out an opposing Pokemon before it even has a chance to move. This 'sleep shuffling' strategy can be particularly effective against more defensive teams, who often don't have many Pokemon that can outspeed Arcanine. The EVs are straightforward and their main purpose is to maximize Arcanine's ability to take physical hits. The remaining 6 Speed EVs can be helpful to outspeed 0 Speed Drapion and other base 95s such as Uxie. Arcanine is naturally forcing plenty of switch outs due to its impressive attacking stats, both physically and specially. It is highly recommended that all three entry hazards are placed on the field to take advantage of the set. Toxic Spikes can be really important to deal with those pesky Water-types which are Arcanine's natural counter. Water-types are a bane to Arcanine and the perfect partner for Arcanine is Venusaur. Venusaur can take both physical and special based Water-type attacks and strike back with a STAB Grass attack or utilize Sleep Powder. If you want a free turn of Toxic Spikes or Spikes, Roserade can be a good partner alongside Arcanine as well. It can come in on Slowbro (barring Psychic) and Milotic's attacks quite easily and will usually force them out. While they are switching, Roserade gets plenty of time to set up entry hazards. Arcanine won't enjoy Flash Fire users like Houndoom and Ninetales because Arcanine's Fire attacks will only give them more power. Since Houndoom and Ninetales are specially based Pokemon, Chansey is your safest switch-in to cushion their attacks. Specially defensive Altaria also pairs up well with Arcanine as long as you can provide some spin support, as it otherwise resists Water and is immune to Ground attacks, and has a high Special Defense stat to make up for Arcanine's lower one.
Bulky Arcanine is not something to laugh at, since it can counter a lot of the major physical threats in the OU metagame thanks to Intimidate. The EVs ensure that you survive a variety of physical attacks from Pokémon like Choice Band Jolly Dugtrio and non-Life Orb Gyarados. The Speed EVs ensure you outspeed Jolly Tyranitar and other Pokémon who EV to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar by one point. Will-O-Wisp is probably the most important move here, since the ability to cut the opponents Attack in half is key to this set. Burn is an excellent status, and even defensive Pokemon not interested in attacking will not appreciate the loss of durability. Hidden Power Ground is needed to combat and 2HKO Fire-type threats that are immune to Will-o-Wisp, such as Heatran and Infernape. The STAB Fire-type move is up to the user's jurisdiction. Flamethrower is for reliability, while Fire Blast may be used for the extra kick. Roar is used to scout, gain extra damage from Spikes or Stealth Rock if you have set them up, and abuse Leftovers. The EVs are very specific on this type of Arcanine, the HP and Defense EVs will maximizing defensive capabilities while still leaving enough to 2HKO Heatran and Infernape and outspeed Jolly Tyranitar. This is very important as you will be able to further diminish Tyranitar's Attack with Will-o-Wisp before it can hit you with Stone Edge, which (with the suggested HP and Defense EVs and Intimidate) won't KO anyways. Team OptionsArcanine's potential is maximized if one can manage entry hazards well. While its offensive stats are above average, neither of them are outstanding, and so having Stealth Rock and possibly Spikes and Toxic Spikes on the opponent's field can be very valuable in damaging bulkier Pokémon so that Flare Blitz can take them out, as well as breaking sashes and weakening frailer Pokémon into ExtremeSpeed's kill range. Similarly, by removing Stealth Rock from your own side of the field, Arcanine can make the most of its bulk and Intimidate, and greatly lengthens the time it will stay alive. Blastoise has already been mentioned as a good Rapid Spinner to pair up with Arcanine on account of its Water resistance and its own STAB Water-type attacks. Hitmontop also pairs up very well with Arcanine, its high Special Defense stat allowing it to come into uninvested Surfs with little problem, and Intimidate and a Rock resistance make it a good switch-in to Regirock as well. From the team's perspective, having two bulky Intimidators will go a good way in improving the team's durability against physical threats as a whole. Having a good switch-in to Water-types is paramount when using Arcanine. Although it has moves to hit them super effectively with, chances are they will come in on your Fire attack, and so having a relatively safe switch-in prepared for the likes of Milotic and Slowbro can pay great dividends. Roserade makes a great partner for Arcanine - it resists Water and has good Special Defense, meaning it can come in on the likes of Slowbro and Milotic with ease. STAB Grass moves will scare off both Water and Rock-types. Feraligatr can use an incoming Surf as a chance to get a free Substitute up, or to start setting up with Dragon or Swords Dance. Offensively it provides good support by taking out Rock-types and opposing Fire-types with its STAB Waterfall, and weakening or removing bulky Water-types with its other coverage moves Other OptionsMost of the sets suggest the use of Intimidate, as it is a consistently great ability. You can use Flash Fire on any Arcanine set to give Arcanine an immunity to Fire attacks and a free power boost every time it switches into one, but you'll usually find Intimidate lets you stay alive longer and switch into physical threats a lot easier. Crunch can be used on the Choice Bander set to 2HKO Slowbro with Stealth Rock, as well as being a powerful option against Uxie and Mesprit. However, it will mean Arcanine loses coverage against some other more general foe, and so isn't a standard move because of its specificity. Iron Tail is a more powerful version of Iron Head, but it doesn't turn any 3HKOs into 2HKOs, and Iron Head's superior accuracy and flinch rate is preferable when taking on these super-defensive Rock-types. EVsSpeed-boosting natures and considerable EV investment can help it outspeed Pokémon with a base Speed of up to 105, provided they are using a neutral Speed nature themselves. However, Arcanine doesn't have stellar offensive stats, and by boosting its Speed stat you often lose out on a lot of power. ExtremeSpeed makes up for lack of Speed investment a lot of the time, which is why offensive stat boosting natures are generally preferred to Speed boosting ones. Fire-types are hardly known for their survivability, and even though Arcanine is one of the sturdier of the bunch, trying to make it too defensive is usually a waste of effort, unless you can provide reliable and consistent Rapid Spin support. Focus on Speed and the primary attacking stat, and dump the remaining points into HP. OpinionWhile not quite up to snuff with all the standards, Arcanine has a strong presence in UU, where its overall high base stats, both offensive and defensive, can overwhelm a lot of the other Pokémon. Flare Blitz was the 4th generation's greatest gift to Arcanine, finally giving it some powerful physical STAB to use off its neglected base 110 Attack. Combined with ExtremeSpeed and the bulk to switch into neutral attacks with relative ease, Arcanine can take weakened teams by storm. However, despite being able to hit hard with both physical and special attacks, Arcanine has a limited and predictable movepool which can easily be countered if one knows its set. Stealth Rock often ends up squandering its bulk as well, meaning Arcanine really has to be played strategically to get the most out of it. CountersArcanine's biggest counters are bulky Water-types, packing a resistance to Arcanine's STAB Fire attacks and generally having the defenses to take neutral attacks without too much difficulty. The most common bulky Waters of UU, Slowbro and Milotic, have skewed defenses and may have trouble with super effective attacks hitting on their lower defensive stat. Milotic doesn't particularly enjoy Choice Band Thunder Fangs, and Slowbro can't withstand Choice Specs Hidden Power Grass. Blastoise has more even defenses and can take all the punishment Arcanine can deliver it. Azumarill has generally bulky stats as well, even though they aren't too heavily invested in normally, but it poses a much more direct threat to Arcanine with a super effective Aqua Jet off its sky high Attack. The Rock/Water types such as Kabutops and Omastar enjoy a 4x resistance to Fire as well resisting ExtremeSpeed, and their naturally high Defense stats mean that Thunder Fang isn't an immediate problem. However, they have to be very wary of being KOed by a 4x super effective Hidden Power Grass. Regirock is practically a full stop to any Arcanine set, especially in sandstorm, as it can threaten back with big damage from Stone Edge. Moltres counters the lead set particularly well if it can switch in on anything but a Toxic. It can Roost off Flare Blitz damage and quickly deplete ExtremeSpeed's limited PP with its Pressure ability. However, it has to be cautious of switching into other Arcanine sets as they can threaten it with Thunder Fang, and Arcanine has a naturally higher Speed stat than Moltres and so the fiery bird will be unable to use Roost and remove its Electric weakness. Stealth Rock will also halve Moltres' health every time it comes into play. A physically defensive Altaria functions similarly to Moltres, but won't mind Toxic as much because of its Natural Cure ability. Chances are it can't do too much to Arcanine in return, though, but can use the free turns as a valuable opportunity to support the rest of the team. Hariyama and Miltank have high defensive stats and aren't weak to any of Arcanine's moves, and by running Thick Fat, obtain a useful resistance to Fire. Miltank has Earthquake to scare Arcanine out with, whereas Hariyama wields a wide array of Fighting moves off its own high Attack stat. Porygon2 makes for an interesting counter, since both of Arcanine's abilities can be used against it. It can cripple sweeper sets with paralysis, while Recover off the damage it takes as it slowly chips away at Arcanine's health with Thunderbolt. In OU, Rhyperior and Swampert quickly come to mind if Arcanine does not possess Hidden Power Grass. Even with the move, both are likely to survive if at full health and will easily OHKO with Earthquake. Bulky Waters will always limit Arcanine’s effectiveness, but Thunder Fang at least gives the pooch a chance to fight back, especially against Gyarados. Additionally, Flash Fire users, particularly Heatran, can pose a problem, as unless Arcanine carries Hidden Power Ground, it does not have anything to deal considerable damage to them should they switch in on a Fire move. |
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