Ubers Arceus-Steel

[QT]

[OVERVIEW]

* Arceus-Steel's poor offensive typing gives it few options for damaging many prevalent Pokemon.
* Key weaknesses to Ground- and Fire-type attacks allow common Pokemon such as Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon to reliably force it out.
* It takes up the all-important Arceus slot, preventing you from using powerful Pokemon such as Extreme Killer Arceus or Arceus-Ghost.
* Its mediocre Attack stat leaves its coverage moves such as Earthquake only capable of taking out frail threats such as Excadrill and Mega Lucario.
* Arceus-Steel's solid defensive typing gives it ten resistances and an immunity, allowing it to check a few metagame staples such as Mega Salamence and Xerneas.
* Immunity to Poison prevents Arceus-Steel from being worn down by Toxic and allows it to set up on most passive Pokemon such as Blissey.
* A great Speed tier lets it outpace most of the metagame, including normal Steel-type checks such as Mega Lucario.
* Good defensive stats afford it many chances to set up and allow it to easily take priority moves like Extreme Speed and Sucker Punch.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Extreme Speed / Stone Edge
item: Steelium Z / Iron Plate
ability: Multitype
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Iron Head is Arceus-Steel’s only physical STAB move, dealing solid damage and boosting Corkscrew Crash to an excellent 160 Base Power.
* Corkscrew Crash is Arceus-Steel's most powerful attack, allowing it to take on Pokemon such as Giratina-O, Zygarde, and neutral Arceus after a Swords Dance.
* Swords Dance allows Arceus-Steel to boost its damage output, giving Corkscrew Crash a truly frightening damage output.
* Earthquake hits Fire- and Steel-types such as Primal Groudon hard, preventing them from freely switching in and allowing Arceus-Steel to check Mega Lucario.
* Extreme Speed picks off frail or weakened threats such as Deoxys-A and Pheromosa but is relatively weak versus most Pokemon.
* Stone Edge allows Arceus-Steel to hit Flying-type Pokemon such as Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Yveltal for heavy damage.
* Recover is an option to give Arceus-Steel more and better switch in and setup opportunities and allows it to set up multiple times in a match, but the loss of priority or coverage greatly hurts Arceus-Steel’s sweeping potential.

Set Details
========

* Running 252 Speed EVs and a Speed-boosting nature allows Arceus-Steel to tie with opposing maximum Speed Arceus formes and Mega Salamence as well as everything slower.
* 252 Attack EVs maximize Arceus-Steel's damage output.
* 4 EVs in Defense cause Download to boost Genesect's Special Attack instead of Attack.
* Steelium Z is the preferred option to give Arceus-Steel a hard-hitting option and let it bypass some usual answers, but Iron Plate can be used if your team already has a Z-Move user.

Usage Tips
========

* Early-game, switch it into resisted hits such as Dragon- or Fairy-type attacks to force out the foe and then wear down the switch-ins; while Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre can take on Arceus-Steel, they have no reliable recovery options.
* Arceus-Steel should switch into Toxic from Pokemon such as Blissey, Arceus-Dragon, and Lugia for its teammates thanks to its immunity and ability to take on common users.
* Once checks such as Primal Groudon have been worn down into range of a boosted attack from Arceus-Steel, bring it in on something it walls such as Arceus-Ice or Magearna and set up for a sweep.
* Don't be too obvious with the use of Corkscrew Crash, as its singular PP leaves it vulnerable to being wasted should your opponent expect it and switch into Ho-Oh or Arceus-Water to absorb the damage.

Team Options
========

* Stealth Rock setters such as Primal Groudon are useful to prevent Ho-Oh from freely switching in and to wear down Arceus-Steel's switch-ins, particularly Fire-type Pokemon such as Reshiram.
* Fire-type answers such as Primal Kyogre, Mega Salamence, and Giratina-O switch into common Arceus-Steel checks such as Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon for it.
* Flying-types such as Lugia and Ho-Oh can handle both Ground- and Fighting-type attacks for Arceus-Steel.
* Pokemon with similar checks and counters such as Xerneas, Zekrom, and Ho-Oh pair well with Arceus-Steel due to their ability to wear down shared answers.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* A Calm Mind set with Iron Plate over Steelium Z can take advantage of Arceus-Steel's immunity to Toxic to set up on passive Pokemon, but it is still walled by common Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh.
* A support set with a moveset of Judgment / Defog / Toxic / Recover is viable but leaves little option for pressuring switch-ins.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Blaziken resist Iron Head and can force out Arceus-Steel with their super effective STAB attacks, usually multiple times per match.

**Ground-types**: Ground-types don't resist Steel-type attacks, but Zygarde-C, Arceus-Ground, and Landorus-T can all survive an attack and do heavy damage back with Thousand Arrows, Judgment, and Earthquake.

**Revenge Killers**: Faster Pokemon with super effective attacks such as Mega Gengar, Mewtwo, and Deoxys-A can all take on Arceus-Steel after it has been slightly weakened, but the last must watch out for Extreme Speed unless Psychic Terrain is up.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Primal Kyogre can take both Arceus-Steel's STAB attacks and its primary coverage move and phaze it out or deal heavy damage with STAB attacks. Arceus-Water cannot directly take on full-health or Recover Arceus-Steel unless it runs Roar, but it can absorb Corkscrew Crash or pick off weakened sets safely, while Palkia forces it out but dislikes taking a hit.

**Skarmory and Celesteela**: Both Skarmory and Celesteela can use their excellent Steel / Flying typing to take Arceus-Steel's common coverage options and have some method of recovering HP. However, they do not do much damage in return.

 

[Nayrz]

Apologies for the wait...

It should be noted that this is an offensive check to Mega Salamence as EQ is rare and doesn't OHKO. It also offensively checks Lucario (faster with EQ, resistant to Bullet Punch) and Xerneas (loses to Focus Blast but owns Z-Geomancy). In general the overview notes stuff that a type chart and looking at its stats/typing doesn't tell me already. Put it into metagame related points.

What's with the Steelium Z? At the moment I don't see anything in the skeleton that tells me why its a better option than Iron Plate. Does it have any big damage calculations to report to make it worth using? If so, note them.

I'd remove the Nihilego mention as well and then we'll see how it looks.

 

[QT]

Apologies for the wait...

It should be noted that this is an offensive check to Mega Salamence as EQ is rare and doesn't OHKO. It also offensively checks Lucario (faster with EQ, resistant to Bullet Punch) and Xerneas (loses to Focus Blast but owns Z-Geomancy). In general the overview notes stuff that a type chart and looking at its stats/typing doesn't tell me already. Put it into metagame related points.

What's with the Steelium Z? At the moment I don't see anything in the skeleton that tells me why its a better option than Iron Plate. Does it have any big damage calculations to report to make it worth using? If so, note them.

I'd remove the Nihilego mention as well and then we'll see how it looks.

Alright, implemented.
For steelium-Z, it's sort of a tossup as to which it seems that I should slash first; Steelium-Z is a better set, but I'm not certain it's the best choice for a z-move on a team. The koes it gets are notable (Nuetral Arceus at +2, even with hp invest, gira-A at +2, Zygarde at +2 before complete form or after an iron head, Mega Salamence at +1).

 

[Nayrz]

We'll go with Steelium Z for now, but make sure to note the damage benchmarks you mentioned in your post to justify it's use. You forgot to implement my point about Lucario. Rayquaza isn't exactly something I would consider for a Fighting-type resist, Lucario actually 2HKOs it with Close Combat. I wouldn't note Genesect as a partner either, I have no idea how that would ever work... 2 bottom of the barrel steels together is a nightmare. I'd drop the CM set, its just... bleugh.

I'll stamp after the changes.

 

[QT]

We'll go with Steelium Z for now, but make sure to note the damage benchmarks you mentioned in your post to justify it's use. You forgot to implement my point about Lucario. Rayquaza isn't exactly something I would consider for a Fighting-type resist, Lucario actually 2HKOs it with Close Combat. I wouldn't note Genesect as a partner either, I have no idea how that would ever work... 2 bottom of the barrel steels together is a nightmare. I'd drop the CM set, its just... bleugh.

I'll stamp after the changes.

Done. I believe this is what you meant by the Mega Lucario bullet in overview, but if you'd like it condensed/up in bullet one reworded let me know.

 

[Nayrz]

I'd note how it checks Lucario or Excadrill (faster and runs EQ) as at a glance it appears their secondary STABs own Arceus-Steel.

Note what switch-ins to expect in the first point of Usage Tips, and what common Toxic users there are in the second. Note what it walls for the third point. Remember to elaborate on your points in the future, the reader is not expected to know these things or else they wouldn't reading the skeleton in the first place. This trend actually appears to extend across the skeleton in general, so I'd like to see a passover on this point specifically before stamping.

Lucario isn't exactly a great partner either as it can lead to real problems against RP Groudon and Ho-Oh... and mons like Blaziken/Pheromosa/other Lucario. Put some more thought into this.

C&C says that Excadrill lives a hit, while the overview says it can OHKO Excadrill. Fix up the false one.

Primal Groudon should be in the Fire-types section - it fits both, but its threat level vs Arceus-Steel warrants it being in the higher bracket which is Fire-types in this case.

 

[QT]

I'd note how it checks Lucario or Excadrill (faster and runs EQ) as at a glance it appears their secondary STABs own Arceus-Steel.

Note what switch-ins to expect in the first point of Usage Tips, and what common Toxic users there are in the second. Note what it walls for the third point. Remember to elaborate on your points in the future, the reader is not expected to know these things or else they wouldn't reading the skeleton in the first place. This trend actually appears to extend across the skeleton in general, so I'd like to see a passover on this point specifically before stamping.

Lucario isn't exactly a great partner either as it can lead to real problems against RP Groudon and Ho-Oh... and mons like Blaziken/Pheromosa/other Lucario. Put some more thought into this.

C&C says that Excadrill lives a hit, while the overview says it can OHKO Excadrill. Fix up the false one.

Primal Groudon should be in the Fire-types section - it fits both, but its threat level vs Arceus-Steel warrants it being in the higher bracket which is Fire-types in this case.

Done.
I've added more detail throughout.
The excadrill point initially involved a sash, but when iI mentioned it in the overview I realized how unlikely the situation was. I replaced it in checks and counters, and elaborated in the overview mention.

Sorry about the late response, I got a bit distracted

 

[Nayrz]

Note in OO that the CM set would use Iron Plate over Steelium Z just for an easy clarifcation.

QC 1/3

 

[shrang]

**Water Types**: Water-types such as Primal Kyogre and Water Arceus can easily take both Arceus-Steel’s STAB attacks and its primary coverage and phaze it out or deal heavy damage with STAB attacks.

Kyogre, yes, but I'm not under the impression that Waterceus frequently runs phazing moves. WoW is also quite rare on Waterceus, so all you're doing to Steelceus is Judgement, which doesn't do much at all, and +2 EQ 2HKOs Waterceus after SR. If you start Recover spamming, they can just keep setting up. I suppose Waterceus can pick off a weakened Steelceus (like <40%), so you should probably mention that.

 

[Minority]

Make sure you don't oversell this Pokemon, especially in the intro. The fact is that this Pokemon is rarely used at the moment, and for good reason.

Fire-types such as Ho-Oh, Reshiram, and Primal Groudon resist Judgment and can force out Arceus-Steel with their super effective STAB attacks, usually multiple times per match.

You mention Judgment here, but the set doesn't even run Judgment, so fix to Iron Head or whatever.

It's probably fair to add Blaziken to the Fire-types section in C&C. Please discuss the Pokemon in C&C in order of relevance.

Correct these things and this is:

QC: 2/3

 

[oversway]

* Great steel typing with 10 resistances and an immunity, allowing it to check metagame staples such as Mega Salamence, Xerneas, and Mega Lucario.
Its typing isn't what allows it to check Mega Lucario, but rather its speed tier and coverage, so clarify this

An immunity to Toxic only prevents Arceus-Steel from being worn down by poison damage, it can still be worn down by burns or hazards.

* Corkscrew Crash is Arceus-Steel's most powerful attack, allowing it to OHKO Pokemon such as Extreme Killer Arceus, Giratina-O, Zygarde, and neutral support Arceus after a Swords Dance.
This is incorrect, +2 Corkscrew Crash can't OHKO Zygarde or neutral support Arceus formes.

* Stone Edge allows Arceus-Steel to hit Flying-type Pokemon such as Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Yveltal that would otherwise wall it.
Iron Head hits Lugia and Yveltal for a decent amount of damage. Arceus-Steel beats Lugia and some Yveltal variants one-on-one so "that would otherwise wall it" needs to be reworded

* 4 EVs in Defense causes Download to boost Genesect’s Special Attack instead of Attack while allowing Arceus-Steel to take 1 more round of passive damage from Stealth Rock or a Burn.
Defense EVs don't affect burn or SR damage

* A support set with a moveset of Judgment/Defog/Will-O-Wisp/Recover is runnable but leaves little option for pressuring switch-ins.
Any support Arceus-Steel would want to run Toxic instead of Will-O-Wisp to avoid getting completely walled by Fire-types and other support Arceus formes.

Mention in C&C that Arceus-Water loses 1v1 to Recover variants. Palkia's physical bulk is nothing spectacular and takes 63 min from a +2 Earthquake so reword this part. Include in Revenge Killers that Deo-A needs to watch out for Extreme Speed.

QC 3/3

 

[QT]

Implemented, thank you!

 

[Hack]

You can't start this analysis with the word great

Talk about the most important aspects of a mon first. Whether they are good or bad is irrelevant in general but in specific it's important. For this mon you definitely need to stay more grounded. Start with what holds it back.

Edit: I saw the edit. It still oversells it, start with why steelceus is absolute horseshit and work down to its redeemable qualities from there

 

[P Squared]

GP 1/1
how to implement a GP check

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

* Arceus-Steel's poor offensive typing gives it few options for damaging many prevalent Pokemon.
* Key weaknesses to Ground- and Fire-type attacks allows allow common Pokemon such as Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon to reliably force it out.
* It takes up the all-important Arceus slot, preventing you from using powerful Pokemon such as Extreme Killer Arceus or Arceus-Ghost.
* Its mediocre Attack stat leaves its coverage moves such as Earthquake only capable of taking out frail threats such as Excadrill and Mega Lucario.
* Arceus-Steel's solid defensive typing gives it ten resistances and an immunity, allowing it to check a few metagame staples such as Mega Salamence and Xerneas.
* Immunity to Poison prevents Arceus-Steel from being worn down by Toxic and allows it to set up on most passive Pokemon such as Blissey.
* A great Speed tier lets it outpace most of the metagame, including normal Steel-type checks such as Mega Lucario.
* Good defensive stats afford it many chances to set up and allow it to easily take priority moves like Extreme Speed and Sucker Punch.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Extreme Speed / Stone Edge
item: Steelium Z / Iron Plate
ability: Multitype
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Iron Head is Arceus-Steel’s only physical STAB move, dealing solid damage and boosting Corkscrew Crash to an excellent 160 Base Power.
* Corkscrew Crash is Arceus-Steel's most powerful attack, allowing it to take on Pokemon such as Giratina-O, Zygarde, and neutral Arceus after a Swords Dance.
* Swords Dance allows Arceus-Steel to boost its damage output, giving Corkscrew Crash a truly frightening damage output.
* Earthquake hits Fire- and Steel-types such as Primal Groudon hard, preventing them from freely switching in and allowing Arceus-Steel to check Mega Lucario. (AP)
* Extreme Speed picks off frail or weakened threats such as Deoxys-A and Pheromosa but is relatively weak versus most Pokemon.
* Stone Edge allows Arceus-Steel to hit Flying-type Pokemon such as Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Yveltal for heavy damage.
* Recover is an option to give Arceus-Steel more and better switch in and setup opportunities and allows it to set up multiple times in a match, but the loss of priority or coverage greatly hurts Arceus-Steel’s sweeping potential.

Set Details
========

* Running 252 Speed EVs and a Speed-boosting nature allows Arceus-Steel to tie with opposing maximum Speed Arceus formes and Mega Salamence as well as everything slower.
* 252 Attack EVs maximize Arceus-Steel's damage output.
* 4 EVs in Defense causes cause Download to boost Genesect's Special Attack instead of Attack.
* Steelium Z is the preferred option to give Arceus-Steel a hard-hitting option and let it bypass some usual answers, but Iron Plate can be used if your team already has a Z-Move user.

Usage Tips
========

* Early-game, switch it into resisted hits such as Dragon- or Fairy-type attacks to force out the foe and then wear down the switch-ins; while Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre can take on Arceus-Steel, they have no reliable recovery options.
* Arceus-Steel should switch into Toxic from Pokemon such as Blissey, Arceus-Dragon, and Lugia for its teammates thanks to its immunity and ability to take on common users.
* Once checks such as Primal Groudon have been worn down into range of a boosted attack from Arceus-Steel, bring it in on something it walls such as Arceus-Ice or Magearna and set up for a sweep.
* Don't be too obvious with the use of Corkscrew Crash, as its singular PP leaves it vulnerable to being wasted should your opponent expect it and switch into Ho-Oh or Arceus-Water to absorb the damage.

Team Options
========

* Stealth Rock setters such as Primal Groudon are useful to prevent Ho-Oh from freely switching in and to wear down Arceus-Steel's switch-ins, particularly Fire-type Pokemon such as Reshiram.
* Fire-type answers such as Primal Kyogre, Mega Salamence, and Giratina-O switch into common Arceus-Steel checks such as Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon for it.
* Flying-types such as Lugia and Ho-Oh can handle both Ground- and Fighting-type attacks for Arceus-Steel.
* Pokemon with similar checks and counters such as Xerneas, Zekrom, and Ho-Oh pair well with Arceus-Steel due to their ability to wear down shared answers.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* A Calm Mind set with Iron Plate over Steelium Z set can take advantage of Arceus-Steel's immunity to Toxic to set up on passive Pokemon, but it is still walled by common Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh.
* A support set with a moveset of Judgment / Defog / Toxic / Recover is viable runnable but leaves little option for pressuring switch-ins.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Blaziken resist Iron Head and can force out Arceus-Steel with their super effective STAB attacks, usually multiple times per match.

**Ground-types**: Ground-types don't resist Steel-type attacks, but Zygarde-C, Arceus-Ground, and Landorus-T can all live survive an attack and do heavy damage back with Thousand Arrows, Judgment, and Earthquake.

**Revenge Killers**: Faster Pokemon with super effective attacks such as Mega Gengar, Mewtwo, and Deoxys-A can all take on Arceus-Steel after it has been slightly weakened, but the last must watch out for Extreme Speed unless Psychic Terrain is up.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Primal Kyogre can take both Arceus-Steel's STAB attacks and its primary coverage move and phaze it out or deal heavy damage with STAB attacks. Arceus-Water cannot directly take on full-health or Recover Arceus-Steel unless it runs Roar, but it can absorb Corkscrew Crash or pick off weakened sets safely, while Palkia forces it out but dislikes taking a hit.

**Skarmory and Celesteela**: Both Skarmory and Celesteela can use their excellent Steel / Flying Flying and Steel typing to take Arceus-Steel's common coverage options and have some method of recovering HP. However, they do not do much damage in return.

 

[QT]

This is done.

 

[Nayrz]

and also uploaded