Arceus
_____________________
[Overview]
<p>After the pre-battle tintinnabulation is completed, please stare in pure, unadulterated horror and ominous presentiment at what is unequivocally the best and most versatile Pokémon in the game. Dare not incur Arceus's divine wrath, or else the consequences shall be severe and merciless, and life shall become but an evanescent wisp.</p>
[SET]
name: Extreme Killer
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: ExtremeSpeed
move 3: Shadow Claw / Shadow Force
move 4: Earthquake / Brick Break / Recover
item: Life Orb / Silk Scarf
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
nature: Adamant
[Set Comments]
<p>Welcome to one of the most famous and fearsome late game sweepers in all of Pokemon. Thanks to Arceus's supreme bulk and the priority of ExtremeSpeed, this set is extremely difficult to revenge kill. Combine it with a meaty base 120 Attack stat, Swords Dance, and STAB on said ExtremeSpeed, and you get one of the most frightening late game sweepers in the entire game, capable of decimating offensive teams and cleaning up weakened defensive teams with ease.</p>
<p>Swords Dance will boost the power of Arceus's STAB ExtremeSpeed to horrifyingly powerful levels, devastating anything in Arceus's way that isn't resembling a physical tank. With just a Silk Scarf boost, it is more than strong enough to OHKO even the bulkiest of Uber titans after a Swords Dance, such as Mewtwo, Kyogre, Reshiram, Palkia, Zekrom, and Ho-Oh. Shadow Claw is necessary to allow Arceus to repel the Ghost-type Pokemon that can come in on ExtremeSpeed without any hassle, such as Giratina-O. However, Shadow Force provides a good deal more power, so much so that Lugia and Giratina risk being OHKOed by Shadow Force after taking Stealth Rock damage provided Arceus has used Swords Dance once, is Adamant, and is holding Life Orb. Shadow Force also alleviates any fears about Wobbuffet. Unfortunately, Shadow Force's one-turn charge makes it easy for the opponent to see coming and thus play around.</p>
<p>Earthquake enables Arceus to break down Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon that could otherwise take ExtremeSpeed, such as Dialga and Tyranitar. Brick Break isn't nearly as strong against Dialga or Heatran, but it is significantly more effective against Ferrothorn, who can otherwise annoy Arceus with Leech Seed. Recover keeps Arceus around longer to get in more boosts, but it limits coverage quite a bit.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The given EVs and nature give Arceus maximum power while granting enough Speed to outpace Rayquaza and all Pokemon that sit at the base 90 threshold. However, if Rayquaza is not an issue, one can choose to invest all of the Speed EVS into HP for additional bulk, allowing Arceus to take hits more effectively while setting up. Overheat is an additional option to take down Skarmory, but its effectiveness is nullified in the rain. A Jolly nature with maximum investment in Speed can also be used to get the jump on Terrakion and slower variants of Ghost Arceus and Steel Arceus, but it affords Arceus much less bulk and power. Life Orb is the preferred item for the great power boost it affords Arceus, but Silk Scarf grants a nice buff to ExtremeSpeed while preserving Arceus's bulk.</p>
<p>Despite the sheer threat presence this set has, it can useless against most other things still be stopped by most dedicated physical walls - other Arceus, Lugia, Skarmory, and Giratina. Common Choice Scarf carriers that resist ExtremeSpeed, such as Terrakion, Dialga, and Heatran, can take a hit from Arceus and severely damage or fell it with Close Combat, Draco Meteor, or Fire Blast respectively. Wobbuffet can easily trap and dispatch Choice Scarf users thanks to its ability, Shadow Tag. It can also utilize Encore to buy Arceus a much-needed turn to use Swords Dance safely. Pairing a Tickle-wielding Wobbuffet with a Pursuit user such as Scizor also makes for a quick way to eliminate Lugia. Powerful special attackers such as Kyogre and Heatran can deal with most physically defensive Arceus. Giratina, Lugia, and Skarmory are also easily fried by Zekrom and Reshiram's STAB Electric- and Fire-type attacks, respectively. The latter, however, will need sunlight support to reliably take on Lugia.</p>
[SET]
name: Wallceus
move 1: Will-O-Wisp / Reflect
move 2: Return
move 3: Recover
move 4: Roar / Ice Beam / Perish Song
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
nature: Impish
[Set Comments]
<p>In addition to being a nigh unstoppable sweeper, Arceus can also function as a nearly unbreakable wall. Arceus's excellent HP, Defense, and Special Defense stats already lend it to taking hits well, and Recover as well as a litany of support and coverage moves only sweeten the deal. Although Normal typing isn't the best pick for a defensive Pokemon, especially since Arceus can become any other type in the game, a lone weakness and the ability to hold Leftovers are a couple of huge advantages Normal Arceus can boast over its other forms.</p>
<p>Normal Arceus generally lends itself more to taking physical hits, and with good reason. In addition to a certain fat pink blob being far better of a dedicated special wall, Arceus learns a couple of useful moves to disable physical attackers, namely Will-O-Wisp and Roar. The former allows Arceus to disable nearly every star physical sweeper in Ubers - Groudon, Rayquaza, other Arceus, Garchomp, and Zekrom, to name a few - for the rest of the match with a crippling burn. Will-O-Wisp also saps the afflicted opponent's HP, allowing Arceus to simply keep healing itself with Recover until the burnt opponent faints. However, Will-O-Wisp's accuracy is shaky and it does nothing to Fire-type Pokemon such as Ho-Oh. Reflect, although it only lasts five turns, does not miss and also benefits the whole team. Return provides a solid STAB attack that can cause a nice chunk of damage to most Uber Pokemon, who generally have lower Defense.</p>
<p>Arceus can run quite a few options in the last slot. Roar is generally the most useful choice. It allows Arceus to phaze away the opponent's physical attackers after it has been neutralized by Will-O-Wisp or Reflect while spreading entry hazard damage around the opponent's team. Ice Beam gives Arceus a way to kill off the likes of Groudon, Zekrom, Rayquaza, and Garchomp more quickly, and is a useful move in general as a lot of Pokemon in the Uber metagame are weak to Ice-type attacks. Lastly, Perish Song provides a way to force switches while stopping stat boosters such as Calm Mind Kyogre and Bulk Up Dialga from completely wasting your team once they are the last opposing Pokemon remaining.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The given EVs allow Arceus to take physical hits as well as it possibly can. An alternate EV spread of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Speed with a Jolly Nature allows Arceus to capitalize on its superb base 120 Speed stat to be nigh guaranteed to outspeed most other physical attackers such as Terrakion and Garchomp, allowing it to cripple them with Will-O-Wisp or set up Reflect before they can land an attack. However, it diminishes Arceus's ability to actually switch in on physical hits. If Ice Beam is being used, it is recommended to switch Return to Judgment and run an Bold (or Timid) nature so as to not gimp its power.</p>
<p>Arceus's offensive movepool is enormous and it can easily run another attack to gain coverage on whatever you need to hit. Flamethrower stops Ferrothorn and Forretress from using Arceus as setup fodder. Earthquake is also an unexpected move on a defensive Arceus. Its main use is to shatter Heatran into a million tiny pieces, who otherwise walls this set completely. It also knocks around Excadrill and Dialga for good damage. Although it doesn't fit into the offensive move category, Refresh can help keep Arceus free of Toxic, which would ruin its walling capabilities.</p>
<p>Although this set is quite difficult to take down, it can't wall everything. Fighting-types equipped with Guts, such as Heracross, can actually have their Attack boosted by Will-O-Wisp and easily OHKO Arceus with a powered-up Close Combat. Fighting Arceus doesn't care about Will-O-Wisp or Reflect, and can set up on Normal Arceus with Calm Mind before striking it down with a mighty STAB Judgment. Fire-types such as Ho-Oh, Reshiram, and Heatran don't care about most of this set's attacks, and can overpower Arceus with their sun-fueled incendiary strikes. Arceus also struggles to fight off extremely strong special attackers such as Kyogre. Giratina packs an immunity to Arceus's lone weakness to Fighting-type attacks, and has the bulk to handle hits from most Fighting-type Pokemon as well as Ho-Oh. Palkia can easily switch in on Kyogre courtesy of its quadruple resistance to Water-type attacks, and fry the bloated fish with Thunder. Palkia can also come in on Reshiram's Blue Flare fairly well, and rip it in half with Spacial Rend. Kyogre has no fear of Heatran and can come in on it all day, and its high Special Defense lets it function as a shaky answer to Reshiram. Finally, Forretress is an excellent partner thanks to Rapid Spin and its immunity to Toxic. Arceus hates being worn down by entry hazards and absolutely loathes being poisoned, so having Forretress on a team with this set would be a wise choice.</p>
<p>If Arceus is running Will-O-Wisp, any user of Calm Mind such as Kyogre, Latios, Latias, Mewtwo, or Giratina is an excellent partner. With the opponent's powerful physical attackers incapable of breaking them, these abusers of Calm Mind can easily set up without fear as the Special Defense boosts cushion the damage dealt from special attacks, making them extremely difficult to halt.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Arceus's excellent bulk and Speed stat lend it to abusing Calm Mind well. Although its coverage is much worse than the other Arceus formes, Normal Arceus is capable of holding Leftovers, which bolsters its surivivability quite a bit. Normal Arceus can also take advantage of Choice Band to give it a sizeable Attack boost, making it a good revenge killer with Extremespeed. However, Arceus doesn't get any notable KOes by using Choice Band, and Swords Dance makes it much more of an offensive threat, so its usually more prudent to just use the Extremekiller set. Light Screen has some use on the Wallceus set to boost Arceus's Special Defense. Thunder can be used on the Extremekiller set to 2HKO Skarmory in the rain.The potential paralysis can hamper Lugia as well. Arceus can attempt to run a mixed set with Work Up, but the other Arceus formes generally do that more effectively as they have better coverage in their STAB moves. Finally, Safeguard can be used on the Extremekiller set to stop physical walls from using Will-O-Wisp on Normal Arceus, a common way to stop it, but it limits type coverage.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The Extremekiller set is best handled by another bulky Arceus with Will-O-Wisp. A burned Arceus poses no threat, and the defensive Arceus can simply Roar away the boosts the Extremekiller has gotten. Fighting Arceus is particularly good at this since it can also smack Normal Arceus with a powerful, super effective STAB Judgment. Lugia can also set up Reflect and stall out Arceus's Extremespeed with help from Pressure. Toxic and Whirlwind will stop Arceus from trying to set up further. If Arceus has Shadow Force, Lugia can simply set up Reflect before it gets hit to lessen the damage taken. Giratina can survive anything except a boosted Shadow Force from Normal Arceus, and cripple it with Will-O-Wisp. If it lacks Overheat, Skarmory can handle anything Arceus throws at it, and set up Spikes in its face before blowing it away with Whirlwind. Defensive Groudon can also handle a hit or two and repel Normal Arceus's assault with Dragon Tail. Choice Scarf Terakion and Dialga can also survive a boosted Extremespeed and do massive damage to Arceus with Close Combat or Draco Meteor.</p>
<p>The Wallceus set is best handled by a Fighting-type with Guts such as Heracross, as they get an Attack raise from Will-O-Wisp thanks to their abilities, and will quickly pulverize Arceus with a mighty STAB Fighting-type attack. Heatran, Ho-Oh, and Reshiram also fear nothing from Will-O-Wisp, and easily roast Arceus to a crisp with their powerful STAB Fire-type attacks. Strong special attackers such as Kyogre and Mewtwo are pesky in general as Arceus is generally built to take physical assaults.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>While Arceus does not receive a Dream World ability (although it doesn't need one), there is one big Pokemon that Normal Arceus is both helped and hurt by: Shadow Tag Chandelure. The ghostly chandelier can spell the doom of many of Extremekiller's counters, such as Lugia, Giratina, and Skarmory, with Shadow Tag and powerful STAB Fire- and Ghost-type attacks. Chandelure also resists Normal Arceus's only weakness. However, Normal Arceus itself is also afraid of opposing Chandelure, as Shadow Tag and a quick sun-fueled Overheat can spell its doom. In the Dream World environment, you will have to play with Normal Arceus more carefully to avoid Chandelure frying it alive.</p>
