PISTOLERO
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
Arceus-Ground
Extremekiller is a little bitch, try [my] Earthquakes on for size - Sweep
QC Checks: Sweep, Shrang, Hack He Must
GP Checks: GatoDelFuego , Ender
Overview
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Arceus-Ground gained new niches during the generation shift, filling a useful role on many offensive team archetypes. With excellent bulk and typical Arceus base 120 stats, Arceus-Ground can fit into many teams easily. The most important defensive role for Arceus-Ground is to absorb Bolt Strikes from Zekrom, a very threatening Pokemon this generation, but Arceus-Ground can also be a very powerful sweeper that uses Swords Dance to fire off powerful STAB Earthquakes. It can also act as a very useful Thunder Wave sponge and severely threatens Klefki, the most common user of Prankster Thunder Wave, which can ruin offensive teams otherwise.
However, Arceus-Ground does have quite a few flaws. Common support Arceus formes such as Arceus-Water and Arceus-Grass have a type advantage against it. Choice Scarf Kyogre in particular can outspeed and OHKO Ground Arceus with ease with either Water Spout or Surf, meaning that Arceus-Ground must have significant team support to deal with it. There is also a certain opportunity cost when using Arceus-Ground: as it takes up your Arceus slot, you can no longer use support Arceus variants with Defog and/or Will-O-Wisp, or Calm Mind Arceus formes such as Electric and Poison. Lastly, other variants of Swords Dance Arceus such as Extreme Killer can often fit into teams far more easily than Arceus-Ground can.
Swords Dance
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Recover / Extreme Speed / Ice Beam
item: Earth Plate
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Earthquake is an incredibly powerful move. With a Swords Dance boost, Earthquake OHKOes virtually all non-Levitating Pokemon in the tier barring immunities and certain support Arceus formes. Stone Edge nails those immune to Earthquake, such as Ho-Oh, Yveltal, and Lugia, for super effective damage, and completes the famous EdgeQuake combination. Recover can be used for longevity throughout a match and helps Arceus-Ground take hits from Zekrom as well as letting it set up more easily. However, Extreme Speed is useful to finish off weakened Choice Scarf users that attempt to revenge kill Arceus-Ground. Ice Beam is an interesting option—it works best on Sticky Web teams, but it is also extremely useful to hit Landorus-T, Gliscor, and Shaymin-S super effectively, although it can only hit the latter on the switch. Gliscor and Landorus-T in particular can irritate Arceus-Ground with Toxic whilst not taking too much from Stone Edge, and they are often problematic for Sticky Web teams to face otherwise. Lastly, Shadow Force specifically targets Giratina, Giratina-O, and Lugia (although Lugia can Roost back to Multiscale due to the charge turn), dealing heavy damage to all of them after a Swords Dance. It also allows Arceus to avoid status and phazing moves, and works quite nicely if the opponent's Pokemon are burned or poisoned.
Set Details
========
Full investment in Attack and Speed allows Arceus-Ground to outpace most of the tier, letting it Speed tie with other max Speed Arceus formes, and allows its moves to hit for maximum damage, with four special defense EVs giving Genesect an Attack boost so it cannot attack with a boosted Ice Beam. As Arceus-Ground has an excellent typing and bulk, HP investment is unnecessary most of the time. Another interesting spread is Adamant with full Speed, Attack, and four Special Defense. This allows Arceus-Ground to hit much harder and still reaches 339 Speed, allowing it to Speed tie with max Speed base 105s, which admittedly are rare, and also outspeed Palkia and everything below it. Most importantly of all, it allows it to oustpeed support Arceus formes that run standard 96+ Speed spreads. It also outruns Arceus formes around this range that Speed creep each other and gives Arceus-Ground a chance to OHKO those neutral to Earthquake at +2 after Stealth Rock. Thus, Arceus-Ground can escape a burn, whereas Jolly Arceus cannot OHKO after Stealth Rock at all. However, this does mean that non-Mega Gengar can outspeed and Destiny Bond Arceus away, which it cannot do against Jolly variants. If using Arceus-Ground on a Sticky Web team, an alternative spread with Adamant nature, 40 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Special Defense and 212 Speed can be used. 212 Speed allows it to outspeed base 100s such as Mega Charizard Y, which is immune to Sticky Web and hits hard with Fire Blast or Solarbeam. However, tailoring EV Spreads to suit your team is perfectly fine; investing in HP and Defense is perfectly reasonable if you prefer to be able to take on Zekrom better, as well as having better all around bulk. An important benchmark to hit is running enough Speed to beat Palkia. An example of such a spread is 80 Attack and 112 Speed with a Jolly nature, which allows Arceus-Ground to outspeed Garchomp and OHKO Palkia, Mewtwo, and Mega Mewtwo Y from full health at +2;the rest can then be invested in bulk to comfortably take attacks from things such as Zekrom.
Usage Tips
========
Swords Dance Arceus-Ground functions as a late-game sweeper if not running Recover, when Choice Scarf users and other faster Pokemon are either gone or weakened enough to fall to Extreme Speed. Burn is extremely threatening to Arceus-Ground, so be mindful about setting up on anything that even has a chance of burning it. Despite its weaknesses, it has an excellent Electric-type immunity. Therefore, Arceus-Ground can liberally switch into Zekrom's Bolt Strike or Volt Switch, which is often Choice-locked, and regain momentum from there.
If running Recover, Arceus-Ground immediately becomes a lot more durable and can be useful throughout the entire game. It becomes a lot easier and less risky to switch into Zekrom, and it is also able to Recover off weak attacks and set up. If using Arceus early-game, it is advised to switch it in at the right time. Switching it in on Zekrom's Bolt Strike works very well, as Arceus then gets a free turn. In the mid-game, it is advised to throw out Earthquakes to see what the opponent's response to Arceus is. This way, Arceus can weaken its checks and counters and not be forced out by something that threatens it and lose momentum; Arceus-Ground tends to provoke an immediate response, and it is perfectly feasible to catch Choice Scarf Kyogre with an Earthquake on the switch as it expects Swords Dance. You can also force the opponent's hand and scout out their team.
Team Options
========
It is mandatory to have a good Choice Scarf Kyogre check on a team with Arceus-Ground. Choice Scarf Zekrom, Palkia, and specially defensive Dialga are excellent for this role; however, Choice Scarf Zekrom can only switch in once and Dialga can only take two full-strength Water Spouts. Wobbuffet, Yveltal, and Xerneas are also excellent teammates for removing Giratina-O and pressuring support Arceus, with the first being able to use Encore and Shadow Tag to give Arceus-Ground an opportunity to set up and the latter two being able to force out Giratina and Giratina-O. Interestingly, Geomancy Xerneas and Swords Dance Arceus-Ground work very well together, as, with smart double switching, it is easy to set up with Arceus-Ground against Xerneas's checks such as Klefki, whereas Xerneas can either Geomancy or Moonblast against Giratina, Giratina-O and certain Support Arceus. However, one must watch out for Roar. Gothitelle, Wobbuffet, and Mega Gengar are all good trappers that can aid Arceus-Ground by removing its checks such as support Arceus and creating conditions where Arceus-Ground can freely set up. A burn absorber or Aromatherapy support is recommend to ensure that Arceus-Ground is free from burn, meaning that it can have more than one chance at setting up. Blissey and defensive Xerneas excel at this supporting role, and Blissey helps with the support Arceus weakness that Arceus-Ground has. Xerneas and Arceus-Ground also go well together as because they create a dual immunity against Zekrom. Along with Palkia and Kyogre, Zekrom is forced into nasty 50/50 situations each time it tries to revenge kill something. Lastly, Choice Specs Kyogre is a nice offensive partner, as it can lure in and wear down many of Arceu-Ground's checks, such as Giratina. In return, Arceus-Ground can absorb Bolt Strikes for Kyogre.
Other Options
########
Overheat can be used to hit Bronzong and Skarmory, which take a pittance from Arceus-Ground's moves otherwise. A Calm Mind set with Judgment, Ice Beam, and Recover can be used, but it is vastly inferior to the Swords Dance set this generation, due to the weak damage output even after a boost, the inability to boost quickly, and the hideous weakness to Toxic. A support set of Earthquake, Stone Edge, Recover, and Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, Defog, or Stealth Rock can be used to surprise checks and provide team support. This set is also the best Zekrom counter in the game. A specially defensive support set can run Roar to phaze Geomancy Xerneas. Dragon Claw can be used over Recover or Extreme Speed on Swords Dance sets to deal heavy damage to Giratina-O; Outrage could be used to OHKO it after a Swords Dance, but the lock-in effect is awful. Magic Coat can be used to anti-lead Deoxys and bounce back status aimed towards it. Gravity can be used to remove the Ground-type immunity of Ho-Oh and Skarmory, allowing Arceus-Ground to bypass some of its checks. A mono-attacking set of Earthquake, Swords Dance, Gravity, and Recover is hilarious and is actually only resisted by Grass- and Bug-Types, of which there are few in Ubers.
Checks & Counters
########
**Water-types**: Choice Scarf Kyogre can easily revenge kill Arceus-Ground with powerful Water-type attacks. Defensive Kyogre can phaze Arceus-Ground or hit it with Scald, but does not take a boosted Earthquake very well at all. Arceus-Water can burn Arceus-Ground or hit it with Judgment. Palkia can take an unboosted Earthquake (albeit not very nicely) and KO Arceus-Ground with either Surf or Hydro Pump.
**Grass-types**: Shaymin-S is always guaranteed to be faster than Arceus-Ground thanks to its base 127 Speed and immunity to Sticky Web. It can then easily dispose of Arceus-Ground with Seed Flare or Leaf Storm. It can also switch in on Earthquake, but gets worked over by Stone Edge and Ice Beam and can fall to a boosted Extreme Speed if it has taken prior damage, with it being a guaranteed OHKO after two Stealth Rock switch-ins.
**Ground / Flying Types**: Landorus-T and Gliscor can Toxic stall Arceus-Ground forever. Gliscor takes +2 Stone Edge with ease and can Roost off any damage, not fearing Earthquake due to its Roosts being slower. However, Landorus-T does not appreciate repeated boosted Stone Edges, and they both have to watch out for Ice Beam.
**Giratina-O and Giratina**: Both formes of Giratina laugh at whatever Arceus-Ground tries to do and threaten with Will-O-Wisp. They can also phaze Arceus-Ground out if it tries to boost through burn.
**Bronzong & Skarmory**: Bronzong is virtually untouched by any of Arceus-Ground's attacks and threatens with Toxic whilst setting up Stealth Rock. Skarmory can do the same as Bronzong while also being able to phaze Arceus-Ground away with Whirlwind.
**Multiscale Lugia**: Lugia can stall out Stone Edge PP with Roost if it is faster and then phaze or Toxic stall Arceus. However, with Stealth Rock up, Lugia can lose to faster Stone Edges, as it will take them before being able to Roost.
**Support Arceus**: Support Arceus formes sometimes run maximum Speed, and can use Will-O-Wisp and then simply stall with Recover until Arceus-Ground faints. However, they need to win both Speed ties, otherwise they will be KOed by Earthquake. Arceus-Grass and Arceus-Water deserve special mention for being able to hit Arceus-Ground for super effective damage, with Arceus-Grass also resisting Earthquake.
Extremekiller is a little bitch, try [my] Earthquakes on for size - Sweep
QC Checks: Sweep, Shrang, Hack He Must
GP Checks: GatoDelFuego , Ender
Overview
########
Arceus-Ground gained new niches during the generation shift, filling a useful role on many offensive team archetypes. With excellent bulk and typical Arceus base 120 stats, Arceus-Ground can fit into many teams easily. The most important defensive role for Arceus-Ground is to absorb Bolt Strikes from Zekrom, a very threatening Pokemon this generation, but Arceus-Ground can also be a very powerful sweeper that uses Swords Dance to fire off powerful STAB Earthquakes. It can also act as a very useful Thunder Wave sponge and severely threatens Klefki, the most common user of Prankster Thunder Wave, which can ruin offensive teams otherwise.
However, Arceus-Ground does have quite a few flaws. Common support Arceus formes such as Arceus-Water and Arceus-Grass have a type advantage against it. Choice Scarf Kyogre in particular can outspeed and OHKO Ground Arceus with ease with either Water Spout or Surf, meaning that Arceus-Ground must have significant team support to deal with it. There is also a certain opportunity cost when using Arceus-Ground: as it takes up your Arceus slot, you can no longer use support Arceus variants with Defog and/or Will-O-Wisp, or Calm Mind Arceus formes such as Electric and Poison. Lastly, other variants of Swords Dance Arceus such as Extreme Killer can often fit into teams far more easily than Arceus-Ground can.
Swords Dance
########
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Recover / Extreme Speed / Ice Beam
item: Earth Plate
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Earthquake is an incredibly powerful move. With a Swords Dance boost, Earthquake OHKOes virtually all non-Levitating Pokemon in the tier barring immunities and certain support Arceus formes. Stone Edge nails those immune to Earthquake, such as Ho-Oh, Yveltal, and Lugia, for super effective damage, and completes the famous EdgeQuake combination. Recover can be used for longevity throughout a match and helps Arceus-Ground take hits from Zekrom as well as letting it set up more easily. However, Extreme Speed is useful to finish off weakened Choice Scarf users that attempt to revenge kill Arceus-Ground. Ice Beam is an interesting option—it works best on Sticky Web teams, but it is also extremely useful to hit Landorus-T, Gliscor, and Shaymin-S super effectively, although it can only hit the latter on the switch. Gliscor and Landorus-T in particular can irritate Arceus-Ground with Toxic whilst not taking too much from Stone Edge, and they are often problematic for Sticky Web teams to face otherwise. Lastly, Shadow Force specifically targets Giratina, Giratina-O, and Lugia (although Lugia can Roost back to Multiscale due to the charge turn), dealing heavy damage to all of them after a Swords Dance. It also allows Arceus to avoid status and phazing moves, and works quite nicely if the opponent's Pokemon are burned or poisoned.
Set Details
========
Full investment in Attack and Speed allows Arceus-Ground to outpace most of the tier, letting it Speed tie with other max Speed Arceus formes, and allows its moves to hit for maximum damage, with four special defense EVs giving Genesect an Attack boost so it cannot attack with a boosted Ice Beam. As Arceus-Ground has an excellent typing and bulk, HP investment is unnecessary most of the time. Another interesting spread is Adamant with full Speed, Attack, and four Special Defense. This allows Arceus-Ground to hit much harder and still reaches 339 Speed, allowing it to Speed tie with max Speed base 105s, which admittedly are rare, and also outspeed Palkia and everything below it. Most importantly of all, it allows it to oustpeed support Arceus formes that run standard 96+ Speed spreads. It also outruns Arceus formes around this range that Speed creep each other and gives Arceus-Ground a chance to OHKO those neutral to Earthquake at +2 after Stealth Rock. Thus, Arceus-Ground can escape a burn, whereas Jolly Arceus cannot OHKO after Stealth Rock at all. However, this does mean that non-Mega Gengar can outspeed and Destiny Bond Arceus away, which it cannot do against Jolly variants. If using Arceus-Ground on a Sticky Web team, an alternative spread with Adamant nature, 40 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Special Defense and 212 Speed can be used. 212 Speed allows it to outspeed base 100s such as Mega Charizard Y, which is immune to Sticky Web and hits hard with Fire Blast or Solarbeam. However, tailoring EV Spreads to suit your team is perfectly fine; investing in HP and Defense is perfectly reasonable if you prefer to be able to take on Zekrom better, as well as having better all around bulk. An important benchmark to hit is running enough Speed to beat Palkia. An example of such a spread is 80 Attack and 112 Speed with a Jolly nature, which allows Arceus-Ground to outspeed Garchomp and OHKO Palkia, Mewtwo, and Mega Mewtwo Y from full health at +2;the rest can then be invested in bulk to comfortably take attacks from things such as Zekrom.
Usage Tips
========
Swords Dance Arceus-Ground functions as a late-game sweeper if not running Recover, when Choice Scarf users and other faster Pokemon are either gone or weakened enough to fall to Extreme Speed. Burn is extremely threatening to Arceus-Ground, so be mindful about setting up on anything that even has a chance of burning it. Despite its weaknesses, it has an excellent Electric-type immunity. Therefore, Arceus-Ground can liberally switch into Zekrom's Bolt Strike or Volt Switch, which is often Choice-locked, and regain momentum from there.
If running Recover, Arceus-Ground immediately becomes a lot more durable and can be useful throughout the entire game. It becomes a lot easier and less risky to switch into Zekrom, and it is also able to Recover off weak attacks and set up. If using Arceus early-game, it is advised to switch it in at the right time. Switching it in on Zekrom's Bolt Strike works very well, as Arceus then gets a free turn. In the mid-game, it is advised to throw out Earthquakes to see what the opponent's response to Arceus is. This way, Arceus can weaken its checks and counters and not be forced out by something that threatens it and lose momentum; Arceus-Ground tends to provoke an immediate response, and it is perfectly feasible to catch Choice Scarf Kyogre with an Earthquake on the switch as it expects Swords Dance. You can also force the opponent's hand and scout out their team.
Team Options
========
It is mandatory to have a good Choice Scarf Kyogre check on a team with Arceus-Ground. Choice Scarf Zekrom, Palkia, and specially defensive Dialga are excellent for this role; however, Choice Scarf Zekrom can only switch in once and Dialga can only take two full-strength Water Spouts. Wobbuffet, Yveltal, and Xerneas are also excellent teammates for removing Giratina-O and pressuring support Arceus, with the first being able to use Encore and Shadow Tag to give Arceus-Ground an opportunity to set up and the latter two being able to force out Giratina and Giratina-O. Interestingly, Geomancy Xerneas and Swords Dance Arceus-Ground work very well together, as, with smart double switching, it is easy to set up with Arceus-Ground against Xerneas's checks such as Klefki, whereas Xerneas can either Geomancy or Moonblast against Giratina, Giratina-O and certain Support Arceus. However, one must watch out for Roar. Gothitelle, Wobbuffet, and Mega Gengar are all good trappers that can aid Arceus-Ground by removing its checks such as support Arceus and creating conditions where Arceus-Ground can freely set up. A burn absorber or Aromatherapy support is recommend to ensure that Arceus-Ground is free from burn, meaning that it can have more than one chance at setting up. Blissey and defensive Xerneas excel at this supporting role, and Blissey helps with the support Arceus weakness that Arceus-Ground has. Xerneas and Arceus-Ground also go well together as because they create a dual immunity against Zekrom. Along with Palkia and Kyogre, Zekrom is forced into nasty 50/50 situations each time it tries to revenge kill something. Lastly, Choice Specs Kyogre is a nice offensive partner, as it can lure in and wear down many of Arceu-Ground's checks, such as Giratina. In return, Arceus-Ground can absorb Bolt Strikes for Kyogre.
Other Options
########
Overheat can be used to hit Bronzong and Skarmory, which take a pittance from Arceus-Ground's moves otherwise. A Calm Mind set with Judgment, Ice Beam, and Recover can be used, but it is vastly inferior to the Swords Dance set this generation, due to the weak damage output even after a boost, the inability to boost quickly, and the hideous weakness to Toxic. A support set of Earthquake, Stone Edge, Recover, and Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, Defog, or Stealth Rock can be used to surprise checks and provide team support. This set is also the best Zekrom counter in the game. A specially defensive support set can run Roar to phaze Geomancy Xerneas. Dragon Claw can be used over Recover or Extreme Speed on Swords Dance sets to deal heavy damage to Giratina-O; Outrage could be used to OHKO it after a Swords Dance, but the lock-in effect is awful. Magic Coat can be used to anti-lead Deoxys and bounce back status aimed towards it. Gravity can be used to remove the Ground-type immunity of Ho-Oh and Skarmory, allowing Arceus-Ground to bypass some of its checks. A mono-attacking set of Earthquake, Swords Dance, Gravity, and Recover is hilarious and is actually only resisted by Grass- and Bug-Types, of which there are few in Ubers.
Checks & Counters
########
**Water-types**: Choice Scarf Kyogre can easily revenge kill Arceus-Ground with powerful Water-type attacks. Defensive Kyogre can phaze Arceus-Ground or hit it with Scald, but does not take a boosted Earthquake very well at all. Arceus-Water can burn Arceus-Ground or hit it with Judgment. Palkia can take an unboosted Earthquake (albeit not very nicely) and KO Arceus-Ground with either Surf or Hydro Pump.
**Grass-types**: Shaymin-S is always guaranteed to be faster than Arceus-Ground thanks to its base 127 Speed and immunity to Sticky Web. It can then easily dispose of Arceus-Ground with Seed Flare or Leaf Storm. It can also switch in on Earthquake, but gets worked over by Stone Edge and Ice Beam and can fall to a boosted Extreme Speed if it has taken prior damage, with it being a guaranteed OHKO after two Stealth Rock switch-ins.
**Ground / Flying Types**: Landorus-T and Gliscor can Toxic stall Arceus-Ground forever. Gliscor takes +2 Stone Edge with ease and can Roost off any damage, not fearing Earthquake due to its Roosts being slower. However, Landorus-T does not appreciate repeated boosted Stone Edges, and they both have to watch out for Ice Beam.
**Giratina-O and Giratina**: Both formes of Giratina laugh at whatever Arceus-Ground tries to do and threaten with Will-O-Wisp. They can also phaze Arceus-Ground out if it tries to boost through burn.
**Bronzong & Skarmory**: Bronzong is virtually untouched by any of Arceus-Ground's attacks and threatens with Toxic whilst setting up Stealth Rock. Skarmory can do the same as Bronzong while also being able to phaze Arceus-Ground away with Whirlwind.
**Multiscale Lugia**: Lugia can stall out Stone Edge PP with Roost if it is faster and then phaze or Toxic stall Arceus. However, with Stealth Rock up, Lugia can lose to faster Stone Edges, as it will take them before being able to Roost.
**Support Arceus**: Support Arceus formes sometimes run maximum Speed, and can use Will-O-Wisp and then simply stall with Recover until Arceus-Ground faints. However, they need to win both Speed ties, otherwise they will be KOed by Earthquake. Arceus-Grass and Arceus-Water deserve special mention for being able to hit Arceus-Ground for super effective damage, with Arceus-Grass also resisting Earthquake.
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