Arceus: A Field Guide - ORAS Edition

Introduction

As the overall best Pokémon species, Arceus's use on Ubers teams is mandatory due to its immense versatility and effectiveness. Although Arceus should be utilized on every team, it's not always immediately obvious to newcomers what an Arceus forme is capable of or what forme they should be using and why. Of the eighteen types, only about six see common usage. Since all Arceus formes have the same movepool and stats, the only major difference between them is their typing; yet this is enough to polarize most Arceus formes to being either excellent or unusable. Arceus usually takes on one of four roles: Swords Dance, Calm Mind, offensive utility, or support, and its typing exclusively decides what roles an Arceus forme is able to fulfill. Because most Arceus formes aren't very noteworthy, this article will primarily focus on the ones that are commonly seen and the ones that you should be using.

Arceus-Normal

Normal isn't traditionally considered a powerful type in Pokémon, but Arceus-Normal consistently has the highest usage of any Arceus forme in the tier. The reasons for this, while linked to its typing, aren't due to how the type matches up against the rest of the tier. What Arceus-Normal is known for is its STAB Extreme Speeds, unrestricted item slot, and lack of easily exploited type weaknesses. This forme always runs Swords Dance and Extreme Speed, and when holding a power-boosting item such as a Life Orb or Silk Scarf, Arceus-Normal is able to deal far more damage with +2 Extreme Speeds than any other forme. Since Fighting-types aren't very common in Ubers and Arceus has good defensive stats, its Normal typing makes it difficult for conventional threats to KO Arceus-Normal with a single attack, making it rather easy to set up.

Arceus-Normal is a staple on a variety of hyper offense arrangements, and it is also effective on several bulky offense builds. EV spreads for Extreme Killer Arceus are customizable to an extent, and they usually opt between running high Speed investment and cutting Speed in favor of HP. Other than Swords Dance and Extreme Speed, Arceus-Normal is able to run coverage moves such as Earthquake, Shadow Claw, Stone Edge, and Ice Beam. These moves allow Arceus to hit Pokémon resistant or immune to Normal or beat certain Extreme Killer Arceus checks that have taken chip damage. Utility moves such as Recover and Magic Coat can also be utilized on certain teams. Most other options Arceus-Normal has are gimmicky or useless and should probably be reconsidered.

Arceus-Ground

Known primarily for its Swords Dance set, Arceus-Ground is a potent physical threat in the Ubers tier. In ORAS, Ground is both a strong defensive and offensive type. Water-, Ice-, and Grass-types are uncommon attacking types in Ubers, while Ground is great for checking Primal Groudon, taking care of Steel-types, and being unaffected by Thunder Wave. The combination of +2 Earthquake and Stone Edge matches up well against most of the tier, while certain checks to this combination such as Giratina-O can be worn down. Arceus-Ground consolidates its coverage with just two slots, which leaves the final slot open to a utility move such as Recover or Extreme Speed. Arceus-Ground is able to outdo Extreme Killer Arceus in terms of raw damage output with its STAB move, all while being able to run maximum Speed and avoid Life Orb recoil. Although Arceus-Ground is workable on certain hyper offense teams, it tends to be more commonly used on bulky offense. Other than Swords Dance, Arceus-Ground is able to run a specially offensive set with Judgment, Ice Beam, Toxic, and Recover, as it is able to condense a solid Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence, and Steel-type check into one slot. A Calm Mind set, while uncommon, can be effective in certain matchups.

Arceus-Ghost

Arceus-Ghost is another common Arceus forme that utilizes Swords Dance. Ghost is a strong offensive type in Ubers, while Normal- and Fighting-type immunities give Arceus-Ghost a unique defensive edge as a Swords Dance Arceus. A set with Calm Mind is less common, but it still holds many of the hallmarks of Arceus-Ghost, such as being a check to Extreme Killer Arceus and offensive Psychic-types. Arceus-Ghost sets run maximum Speed and tend to be used on hyper offense teams that need additional defense against Extreme Killer Arceus. STAB Shadow Force allows Swords Dance Arceus-Ghost to outdamage its peers Extreme Killer Arceus and Arceus-Ground, although Shadow Force can be played around in certain scenarios. Like Swords Dance Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Ghost consolidates its coverage with just one additional move: Brick Break is used to hit Normal- and Dark-types. In the final slot, Arceus-Ghost has the option to run Extreme Speed to pick off fast special attackers such as Deoxys-A and Darkrai, while Shadow Claw can provide a secondary STAB move that can't be played around.

Arceus-Water

As the premier support Arceus in ORAS Ubers, Arceus-Water is commonly used on many balanced and stall teams. The reason Water typing turns Arceus into an effective defensive Pokémon is due to its combined Fire- and Water-type resistances in conjunction with a lack of an easily exploited typing weakness. A Fire-type resistance is important for a defensive Arceus because of Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh, while the Water-type resistance gives balanced teams an intrinsic defense against Primal Kyogre. Because damaging Grass- and Electric-type attacks are so rare in ORAS Ubers, Arceus-Water is very difficult to KO with a single move. Instead, its greatest defensive weakness is a vulnerability to Toxic, while powerful boosting special attackers have options for surpassing it.

Arceus-Water has a strange relationship with Primal Groudon. While most Primal Groudon sets are Toxic stalled by Arceus-Water, Primal Groudon is immune to Arceus-Water's Judgment. Fast Swords Dance Primal Groudon sets can break through Arceus-Water's attempts to Toxic stall, but generally, Arceus-Water is a hinderance to Primal Groudon. Additionally, Arceus-Water sets that elect to run Defog are able to eliminate Stealth Rock set by Primal Groudon. Arceus-Water is also known for checking threats such as Ho-Oh, Mega Salamence, Arceus-Ground, Mega Diancie, and Rayquaza due to running a highly defensive spread and a combination of the moves Judgment and Ice Beam. Although some of these Pokemon such as Ho-Oh and Rayquaza have options to defeat Arceus-Water, it still provides an incredible role compression for the physical backbone of a team.

Arceus-Rock

Arceus-Rock is best known for being the most solid Ho-Oh and Mega Salamence check in the tier. Additionally, Arceus-Rock performs better against Extreme Killer Arceus, Yveltal, and Rayquaza than most Arceus formes. Usually employed on bulky offense and balanced teams, the most common Arceus-Rock set runs Calm Mind. Arceus-Rock's strong performance against Ho-Oh along with Rock being a solid offensive type makes it one of the better Calm Mind Arceus formes. Although Arceus-Rock has these unique traits, it is often in competition with Arceus-Water, which doesn't check Ho-Oh or Mega Salamence quite as well but lacks an exploitable weakness to Ground. Although Primal Kyogre is usually not a major concern for teams, utilization of Arceus-Rock makes teams more wary of this threat.

Arceus-Dragon

Filling a similar role to Arceus-Water, Arceus-Dragon sports highly useful Fire- and Water-type resistances. Arceus-Dragon is essentially a special case of using Arceus-Water for teams that cannot delegate Defog in a better way and don't have gaping Fairy-type weaknesses. The reason why Arceus-Dragon is used in such a scenario is because Dragon-type Judgment hits three major targets while taking up a single slot, whereas Arceus-Water requires two slots to hit the same targets. These Pokémon are Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence, and Ho-Oh. Although Arceus-Dragon's Judgment does half as much as Arceus-Water's when used on Ho-Oh, it is still enough to break Substitutes. The team archetypes that tend to justify Arceus-Dragon over Arceus-Water are bulky offense and balance. Note that the only reason to use Arceus-Dragon is for the purpose of Defog allocation. From a defensive standpoint, Arceus-Dragon is inferior to an Arceus-Water that has room to run Judgment and Ice Beam. Teams should not set out to use support Arceus-Dragon; they should only use it when this specific compression is necessary. Although very rare, Arceus-Dragon can run a Swords Dance set with Outrage and coverage moves to try and accomplish an unexpected clean.

Types That are Uncommon but Worth Noting

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Able to check a unique list of offensive Pokémon such as Mega Salamence, Darkrai, Giratina-O, and Yveltal thanks to its Fairy typing, Arceus-Fairy can be used for offensive utility or as a setter of Stealth Rock. Stone Edge, Earth Power, and Judgment is a combination of moves that is awkward for bulky offense teams to switch into, although highly defensive teams won't have much trouble. Defensive teams that have Toxic-immune Pokémon with good recovery options are able to handle Arceus-Fairy sets well, but such teams aren't especially common.

Known for its Calm Mind set and bizarre Perish Trapping set, Arceus-Dark is an uncommon but situationally dangerous forme. Dark is a solid offensive type in Ubers, but prominent Pokémon such as Xerneas and Klefki can make it difficult for Arceus-Dark to make significant headway. The intent behind the Perish Trap set is to lure in such targets.

Although there are a lack of good Ice-type Pokémon in Ubers, Ice is still a solid offensive type. Used with Calm Mind, Arceus-Ice is hindered by its weakness to Stealth Rock and lack of substantial defensive synergy, but it can be an effective offensive threat in certain situations. Arceus-Ice does have at least one defensive trait going for it, which is the ability to check Mega Salamence.

Despite a weakness to Ground-type moves and a poor offensive STAB type, Arceus-Poison can be situationally used as a Swords Dance user. Its Poison typing allows it to check Xerneas and annoy Pokémon reliant on Toxic to inflict damage, which are worthwhile enough traits to be used on certain teams. It is rarely used in a support or Calm Mind role.

The Remainders

Arceus-Steel is used very similarly to Arceus-Poison, but it is worse at checking Xerneas due to its weakness to Focus Blast. It gets resistances to Flying- and Dragon-type moves at the cost of weaknesses to Fighting- and Fire-types.

Despite its useful resistances to Ground- and Water-type moves, Arceus-Grass is usually inferior to Arceus-Water in a support position. The most common set fills an offensive utility role with Recover and three attacks, which baits certain Pokémon.

Arceus-Fighting can check big threats like Extreme Killer Arceus and Darkrai, but it performs poorly against most other foes. It typically runs an offensive utility set with Recover, Judgment, Ice Beam (to bait and snipe Pokémon such as Mega Salamence), and Stone Edge (to bait and snipe Ho-Oh).

Impaired by a weakness to Ground-type attacks and without a good way to run all the coverage it needs for an offensive set, Arceus-Electric uses either a dual status set with Recover and Judgment or a Calm Mind set with coverage moves such as Ice Beam and Earth Power.

Despite Flying being a good offensive type, Arceus-Flying gets no good physical STAB move. Additionally, a Calm Mind set is easily checked by most teams. A Stealth Rock weakness makes it even worse.

Arceus-Psychic doesn't have any worthwhile offensive traits due to its typing and lacks any defensive traits outside of checking offensive Psychic-types such as Deoxys-A and Mewtwo. It is also weak to Ghost- and Dark-types, which are some of the most dangerous special attackers in the tier.

Arceus-Fire doesn't have much of a way to make use of its Fairy-type resistance and has awful weaknesses to Ground-type attacks and Stealth Rock. In an offensive role, it lacks a physical STAB move, while a Calm Mind set lacks the ability to compress its coverage well.

Perhaps the worst Arceus forme, although Flying, Psychic, and Fire are also awful, Arceus-Bug is like a worse version of Arceus-Poison, which is already outclassed in most situations. An Arceus-Bug Swords Dance set has a usable physical STAB move, but unlike Arceus-Poison, it cannot check Xerneas, lacks a Toxic immunity, and gains awful weaknesses to Flying-types and Stealth Rock.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has made it clear why typing is such a deciding factor for Arceus usage and their role selection. At the very least, take away what kind of Arceus forme you should be using given a team archetype or structure. Arceus formes in the "The Remainders" section are either highly situational or perform so lackluster in their best niche that they aren't really worth your time. Since you're now an expert on when and how to use Arceus formes, what Arceus to choose should now be one of the easiest parts of building your Ubers team.

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