Arcanine
[Overview]
<p>Arcanine is a one of those Pokemon that has the BST and movepool to be OU, but its typing and Speed come up just short. This is actually a good thing, however, as in UU, Arcanine has the opportunity to truly shine due to its well-rounded stats, amazing coverage, and impressive versatility. These assets lead to it being able to run a very dangerous physically offensive set, be a very sturdy physical wall, or even surprise opponents with a Sunny Day set. However, it's not all peaches for Arcanine, as much like it would in OU, the ubiquitous Sand Stream makes its life miserable, wearing Arcanine down and rendering Morning Sun unusable. Being affected by every type of entry hazard, with a weakness to Stealth Rock to boot, doesn't do it any favors either. Nevertheless, if you play it to its strengths and provide it with the proper support, Arcanine is sure to leave its mark in every battle it takes part in.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: ExtremeSpeed
move 3: Wild Charge / Crunch
move 4: Close Combat / Morning Sun
item: Life Orb
ability: Flash Fire / Intimidate
nature: Adamant
evs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is undoubtedly Arcanine's most dangerous set; not only is it incredibly strong, but it also possesses impressive coverage and strong priority to boot. If this monster gets a single free switch-in and you can predict correctly, something is definitely going down. Flare Blitz acts as the primary STAB move here; its naturally high Base Power, combined with Arcanine's above average Attack and Life Orb, make it absolutely devastating to anything that doesn't resist it, especially if Arcanine manages to get a Flash Fire boost. ExtremeSpeed, in addition to making it much more difficult to revenge kill, gives Arcanine an additional niche in being able to pick off weakened faster opponents, such as Flygon and Azelf. Wild Charge gives this set the ability to hurt the Water-types that commonly like to switch into it, bar Swampert. Crunch is an alternative as it still does heavy damage to Slowbro and Slowking while giving Arcanine a means of getting past Chandelure. Close Combat is Arcanine's best option against Rhyperior and Snorlax and gets a harder hit on Empoleon, Houndoom, and Porygon2; it's also Arcanine's strongest move against predicted Kingdra, Flygon, and Swampert switch-ins. Morning Sun is Arcanine's most reliable recovery move, but its effectiveness is cut down by the prominence of Sand Stream in the metagame.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EVs let Arcanine outrun neutral-natured base 85s such as Heracross, Nidoking, Suicune, and Kingdra, maximize its Attack, give it a Life Orb number in HP, and prevent beneficial Download boosts for Porygon2 as it comes in. You may adjust the EVs and nature as you see fit for your team, though. For example, running a Jolly nature ensures Arcanine outpaces even positive-natured base 85s, and if you bump the Speed EVs up to 216, Arcanine also becomes faster than offensive Roserade. You may also choose to give up some power in order to increase Arcanine's bulk. A spread of 192 HP / 136 Atk / 4 SpD / 176 Spe will not only let it switch in more easily to check various threats, but also considerably decrease the recoil done by Flare Blitz and Wild Charge. Leftovers is an option if you decide to go this route, as it has good synergy with the added bulk. If you decide to stick to pure offense though, Arcanine can use a Choice Band if you dislike the Life Orb recoil and don't mind being locked into a single move; however, this fails to take advantage of Arcanine's awesome coverage. Flash Fire is the primary ability as it grants Arcanine a potential boost to its already devastating Flare Blitz, but Intimidate can help soften blows from any physical attack as Arcanine switches in, making it a very viable option.</p>
<p>This set appreciates two things above all else: entry hazard removal is the first, as Arcanine already has quite a short lifespan due to the recoil it takes from Life Orb and two of its moves. Secondly, a partner that can ease the pressure put on your team by opposing Fire-types is also recommended so that Arcanine doesn't need to come in and take hits too often. Blastoise thus makes an excellent partner for Arcanine, as it can not only easily switch into various Fire-types, but also use Rapid Spin to rid the field of entry hazards. If a more offensive approach is your thing, look no further than Kabutops, which can accomplish many of the same things as Blastoise while still posing a significant offensive threat to the opponent. Roserade is another excellent partner, as it can not only switch into the Water-types that threaten Arcanine and absorb Toxic Spikes upon entry, but also lay down Spikes to make Arcanine's assaults all the more dangerous. Finally, in order to take full advantage of the holes Arcanine tears into enemy lines, you should pair it with a second physically offensive Fire-type, such as Choice Scarf Darmanitan or Victini.</p>
[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Flare Blitz / Flamethrower
move 2: ExtremeSpeed / Hidden Power Grass
move 3: Morning Sun
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish / Bold
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While it might seem odd to give such an offensive juggernaut a defensive set, Arcanine actually makes for quite a sturdy wall, as it can easily check or counter most Heracross, physical Victini, Cobalion, Darmanitan, Escavalier, Swords Dance Mew, Weavile, opposing Arcanine, and many other dangerous physical threats. The main issue with this set is that Sand Stream affects it much more than Arcanine's other sets, cancelling Leftovers and making Morning Sun recover only a measly 25%; however, when it comes down to it, that's really the only bad thing about this set.</p>
<p>Flare Blitz is Arcanine's strongest move and is the most immediately threatening thing it can do to repel the Pokemon it switches into, while Flamethrower is a weaker alternative that lacks the recoil. ExtremeSpeed lets Arcanine pick off weakened faster threats, such as Weavile, Azelf, and Flygon, before they can do anything else. Hidden Power Grass lets Arcanine hurt bulky Water-types a bit and solidly 2HKOes Swampert and Rhyperior, giving Arcanine the potential to net surprise KOs on them. Doing this will sometimes mean the opposition won't have the opportunity to lay down Stealth Rock at all, greatly prolonging Arcanine's lifespan. Morning Sun is Arcanine's most reliable recovery move. Unfortunately, the prominence of Sand Stream in the metagame makes it much less consistent than it should be, so if you happen to run into a sand team, be sure to play Arcanine as conservatively as possible. The final moveslot is dedicated to a status move: Will-O-Wisp lets Arcanine cripple many of its common switch-ins—namely Swampert, Rhyperior, and Flygon—while Toxic does the same to bulky Water-types such as Milotic and Slowbro.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EVs serve to optimize Arcanine's physical bulk so that it can do its job of checking the many physically offensive behemoths in UU effectively. As you may have noticed, this set can attack either physically, specially, or even go mixed with Flare Blitz and Hidden Power Grass as its attacks, so you must pick your nature accordingly. It's worth noting that a Relaxed nature still lets Arcanine be faster than the standard 8 Speed Milotic by 3 points without any investment. This set can also make use of Roar in order to spread hazard damage around the opposing team and phaze away setup sweepers that don't fear its offensive moves, most notably Dragon Dance Kingdra and Curse Snorlax. Intimidate is by far the most effective ability on this set as it lets Arcanine check physical threats much more easily. However, the use of Flash Fire is not exactly unheard of, as it not only gives Arcanine a potential boost to its STAB, but also lets it switch into Bisharp without to giving it an Attack boost from Defiant.</p>
<p>Rapid Spin support is the most essential thing to make the most out of this set, as not only is Arcanine susceptible to every type of entry hazard, but it also comes with a weakness to the most common one to boot. Hitmontop therefore makes a good partner to this set, as it resists the Rock-type moves commonly aimed at Arcanine; furthermore, they form a very solid defensive core that not many physical attackers can break due to the threat of double Intimidate. Blastoise and Kabutops also work, but not as well, as they like to come in to Rapid Spin on the same threats that Arcanine counters, making them pretty redundant partners. Grass-types are also solid partners, especially Roserade, as it can not only switch in for free on the Water-types that threaten Arcanine, but also lay down Spikes to take advantage of the switches Arcanine forces. On top of that, it even absorbs Toxic Spikes upon entry, something that Arcanine greatly appreciates.</p>
[SET]
name: Sunny Day
move 1: Sunny Day
move 2: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
move 3: SolarBeam
move 4: Morning Sun
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Intimidate
nature: Modest
evs: 192 HP / 248 SpA / 4 SpD / 64 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Arcanine makes a fantastic user of Sunny Day, which not only clears the sand that makes Arcanine miserable, but also mitigates its weakness to Water-type attacks, boosts its STAB Fire-type attacks, and makes Morning Sun recover two-thirds of its HP. This set also gives Arcanine a great way to get past usual counters such as Rhyperior and Swampert with SolarBeam, making it difficult to play around. Fire Blast is the primary pick for STAB here due to Arcanine's average Special Attack stat, but Flamethrower is also usable if better accuracy and PP are more up your alley. Finally, Morning Sun gives Arcanine a way of recovering HP outside of Leftovers, and as stated previously, becomes even more effective while the sunlight is strong.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>While Arcanine's moveset is pretty much set in stone, every other aspect of this set is not. For example, a bulkier EV spread of 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD is viable as it prevents even Choice Scarf Heracross from 2HKOing Arcanine with Close Combat, making switching in a bit easier. A faster spread of 72 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD / 176 Spe gives Arcanine the opportunity to outrun everything with base 85 Speed or lower with the appropriate nature, but at the cost of a lot of bulk. Leftovers is the recommended item, as it has good synergy with a bulky EV spread, but Life Orb is viable if you prefer power over longevity. Flash Fire is also a usable ability, as it grants Arcanine a few free switch-in opportunities and a potential boost to its Fire-type STAB move, but Intimidate is a more consistent ability, making it the primary option.</p>
<p>In order for this set to work properly, you want to pair it with a strong Pursuit user to ensure Chandelure can't switch into Arcanine freely. Snorlax and Houndoom are the best at this, as they can fearlessly switch into anything Chandelure can throw at them, bar Hidden Power Fighting, and proceed to trap it. However, other Pursuit users, such as Krookodile, work as well. Rapid Spin support is not absolutely required, but is nevertheless appreciated, as Arcanine is affected by every type of entry hazard and has a weakness to the most common one. Hitmontop fills this role excellently, as it even lures out Chandelure for your Pursuit user to take care of it.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Arcanine's well-rounded stats and wide movepool allow it to fill many roles that have not been discussed above. However, many of these are either outclassed by other Pokemon or have some fatal flaw that prevent them from being as effective as the other sets. For example, Arcanine can sport a specially defensive EV spread in order to beat Ghost-types and other assorted special attackers. However, this would require the use of Crunch to damage Chandelure, and on top of that, Arcanine still loses to a great majority of UU special attackers, such as Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Mew, Azelf, Water-types, and others. A mixed offensive set is another example, as Arcanine definitely has the offenses to pull it off, but the fact is that this set does not accomplish anything that the purely physical attacker does not.</p>
<p>Arcanine also has a few individual moves that may be appealing to its user, namely Flame Charge, Howl, and Rest + Sleep Talk. The first two are the only way Arcanine has to boost its stats; however, the boost is quite minimal and the cost of using them is too great, as Arcanine already suffers from a bad case of four-moveslot syndrome. The latter two are an alternate way for it to recover its HP, but with the change in sleep mechanics this generation, Arcanine would be forced to stay in for prolonged periods of time in order to make proper use of them—something it is not too keen on doing. Finally, Arcanine's Dream Word ability, Justified, might sound like a good idea at first, but when you consider how much more useful its other two abilities are, it becomes less appealing.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Arcanine's offensive set is exceedingly hard to switch into due to its impressive coverage and strong STAB. Slowbro is the best possible initial switch-in, as it only fears Wild Charge and Crunch and has Regenerator to mitigate the damage done by a misprediction. Swampert is a close second, as it takes just under half from the strongest move Arcanine can use on it, Close Combat, and can retaliate with either one of its STABs. Other Water-types such as Milotic and Suicune can also take care of it, but they have to be much more wary of switching into a super effective Wild Charge due to their lack of Regenerator. Rhyperior is also a very solid check, as even Close Combat fails to do too much damage thanks to Solid Rock. Due to Thick Fat giving it a virtual resistance to Flare Blitz, Snorlax makes a decent answer to Arcanine lacking Close Combat. Similarly, Chandelure can come in safely as long as it avoids Wild Charge and Crunch on the switch. Flygon fears being 2HKOed by a combination of Close Combat followed by ExtremeSpeed, but otherwise makes for a great check as it outspeeds Arcanine and has STAB Earthquake.</p>
<p>Because they are much less offensively threatening, Arcanine's other sets are nowhere near as hard to switch into. The physically defensive set shares many counters with the offensive one, provided they avoid the move that is meant to catch them on the switch. For example, Rhyperior and Swampert make excellent counters if Arcanine doesn't carry Will-O-Wisp or Hidden Power Grass. Similarly, Milotic switches in fearlessly if Arcanine lacks Toxic. The Sunny Day set will probably catch you off-guard the first time you switch into it, but once the element of surprise has been lost, you should be fine. Snorlax is a hard counter to Sunny Day Arcanine, as nothing on the set even comes close to scratching it. Chandelure and Houndoom also work, as they are both immune to Arcanine's STAB and resist SolarBeam. Flygon is an even better check, as it outspeeds Arcanine, is unlikely to be hit by SolarBeam, and can OHKO with a STAB Earthquake. Finally, as has been previously emphasized, Arcanine absolutely detests entry hazards and Sand Stream, so there's also the option of letting these field conditions take care of it for you.</p>
