Nixon73
Scuttlebug Jamboree
[OVERVIEW]
* A Psychic typing allows Arceus-Psychic to resist attacks from Psychic-type attackers and Psychic terrain teams, allowing it to switch into and wall the most dangerous attackers in those archetypes, most notably Ultra Necrozma. This provides Arceus-Psychic with its main niche as a solid but passive answer to these builds.
* Arceus-Psychic's typing also allows it to handle a variety of miscellaneous threats including Mega Lucario, Blaziken, and Toxapex. A resistance to Fighting is particularly noteworthy, as it distinguishes Arceus-Psychic from Arceus-Dark, the Arceus forme more typically used to handle Psychic-types and Psychic Terrain teams.
* Access to status options including Toxic to put passive Pokemon on a timer and Will-O-Wisp to weaken physical attackers allows Arceus-Psychic to punish most of its switch-ins.
* Arceus-Psychic is extremely passive, as Judgment is resisted by common Steel-, Psychic-, and Dark-types. This leaves Arceus-Psychic reliant on status to punish most of its switch-ins and unable to meaningfully punish bulky Pokemon immune to or capable of removing status.
* Gothitelle can easily trap Arceus-Psychic with Shadow Tag and dispatch it with a PP stall, undermining its reliability as a wall. Mega Gengar also threatens to trap Arceus-Psychic if it falls below 50% HP or gets hit by status, requiring careful play against a common matchup.
* While Arceus-Psychic has a usable defensive typing, it invites weaknesses to Ghost- and Dark-type attackers such as Lunala, Marshadow, Arceus-Dark, Arceus-Ghost, and most importantly Yveltal. This makes it struggle as a general-purpose wall compared to its competition, as other Arceus formes such as Arceus-Water and Arceus-Ground have less relevant weaknesses and cover a similar niche. Because of this, Arceus-Psychic's niche is restricted to teams that need an answer to Psychic terrain teams and cannot afford the Fighting weakness of Arceus-Dark.
[SET]
name: Wall
move 1: Judgment
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Recover
move 4: Ice Beam / Toxic
item: Mind Plate
ability: Multitype
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Judgment is a reliable Psychic-type STAB move that allows Arceus-Psychic to hit Poison- and Fighting-types super effectively, notably achieving OHKOs against Mega Gengar, Marshadow, Blaziken, and Naganadel as well as reliably 2HKOing Toxapex. It also does meaningful chip damage to switch-ins that do not resist it, most notably including Primal Groudon.
* Will-O-Wisp provides Arceus-Psychic with a way to punish physical attackers that may try to take advantage of its passivity to set up on it by burning them and halving their attack. Necrozma-DM in particular is severely debilitated by a burn and would otherwise easily take advantage of Arceus-Psychic with its 4x resistance to Judgment, and Ultra Necrozma is weakened by it enough to keep its damage output manageable as Arceus-Psychic chips at it.
* Recover is the mandatory healing move, keeping Arceus-Psychic healthy to take hits throughout the match.
* Ice Beam allows Arceus-Psychic to punish Dragon-type sweepers that may take advantage of its passive nature to set up, notably OHKOing Mega Salamence, 2HKOing Zygarde-C, and 2HKOing Ultra Necrozma after burn or Stealth Rock damage.
* Toxic can be used as a way to threaten passive special attackers, such as support Arceus formes that do not fear a burn and can heal off chip damage from Judgment.
Set Details
========
* Full investment in HP increases Arceus-Psychic's bulk, allowing it to sponge hits and provide team support throughout the match.
* Full Speed investment allows Arceus-Psychic to at worst Speed tie with other base 120 Speed Pokemon, allowing it to threaten Arceus-Ground with a burn before it can use Substitute and Mega Salamence with Ice Beam before it can attack.
* An alternative EV spread of 252 HP / 64 SpD / 192 Spe allows Arceus-Psychic to better take hits from the Psychic-types it is meant to check, notably allowing it to switch into Psychic from Deoxys-A and still tank a Dark Pulse before OHKOing. The Speed investment is still enough to outspeed Mega Lucario and threaten it with Will-O-Wisp and Judgment.
* Multitype is Arceus's mandatory ability and combines with Mind Plate to form Arceus-Psychic and provide it with a reliable STAB move in Judgment.
Usage Tips
========
* Arceus-Psychic should be liberally switched into the Pokemon it is meant to check, especially Psychic-types such as Ultra Necrozma, Mewtwo formes and Deoxys-A, as its bulk and recovery allow it to sponge their otherwise threatening hits throughout the match. However, be careful when facing a boosted Ultra Necrozma, as its Light That Burns the Sky has a chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock at +2. Prevent this situation by seeking to burn Ultra Necrozma before it transforms or relying on Dark-types to take that Z-Move.
* Note that despite their powerful super effective STAB moves and higher Speed, neither Marshadow nor Mega Gengar is capable of OHKOing Arceus-Psychic from full HP even after Stealth Rock, while Arceus-Psychic does OHKO with Judgment, so keep Arceus-Psychic healthy allows it to be used as a check against these in a pinch. At the same time, be careful to avoid being trapped by Mega Gengar if Arceus-Psychic falls into KO range of Hex or Shadow Ball.
* After Arceus-Psychic is brought in against a Pokemon it checks, your opponent will most likely switch to either an attacker that can set up on Arceus-Psychic or a passive special attacker that can easily wall it; try to predict these switches and punish them with Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, or a double switch as appropriate.
* Try to avoid status, especially poison, as it will severely limit Arceus-Psychic's ability to sponge hits. Trading Toxic with other passive Pokemon may be worth it if the opponent lacks a way to remove it, especially given Arceus-Psychic's matchup-reliance, but avoid doing this if facing Arceus-Psychic's ideal matchup against Psychic Terrain teams.
* If running other Pokemon with Toxic, be careful clicking Will-O-Wisp when anticipating switches. Passive Pokemon such as Arceus-Water, which often switch into Arceus-Psychic, can actually benefit from being burned, as they do not mind the Attack drop and become immune to Toxic.
* Arceus-Psychic lacks a way to meaningfully damage passive Pokemon capable of recovering or blocking status, notably including Mega Sableye, Blissey, and Chansey. If the opponent has such a Pokemon, Arceus-Psychic will be borderline useless, as the opponent can just switch to them with no penalty whenever Arceus-Psychic is sent out. Unless trying to bait a switch to these Pokemon, such as by double-switching, simply do not send out Arceus-Psychic at all in this matchup, as that way it can at least pressure the opponent by threatening to be a sweeping Arceus forme.
Team Options
========
* Arceus-Psychic is meant to protect a team from Psychic Terrain and Psychic-type attackers, so teams that need an answer to these threats but cannot afford the Fighting-type weakness of Arceus-Dark may consider Arceus-Psychic.
* Arceus-Psychic's passivity allows sweepers to take advantage of it and set up, so a Pokemon that can patch up these weaknesses, such as Marshadow, Choice Scarf Xerneas, or Choice Scarf Yveltal, would make a good partner.
* Arceus-Psychic is easily exploited by Dark-types, so a Fairy-type that can switch into attacks from especially Yveltal would be helpful. Magearna stands out as the Pokemon most capable of hard switching into Dark-types repeatedly, and bulkier or Choice Xerneas sets can also perform this role effectively.
* Similarly, Arceus-Psychic appreciates a good switch-in to Ghost-type attacks that could hit it super effectively. Yveltal is a good partner in this regard, threatening the tier's Ghost-types with an OHKO and having enough bulk to comfortably take a few resisted attacks even from powerful attackers such as Marshadow and Mega Gengar.
* Because Arceus-Psychic is so passive, the main way to punish the opponent for offensive plays, especially if lacking dual status, is to run a wallbreaker that can be used to double switch into. Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Choice Specs Xerneas and Yveltal are examples of wallbreakers that can be devastating given good prediction.
* Hex Mega Gengar is a very good partner for dual status Arceus-Psychic, as it greatly appreciates Arceus-Psychic's ability to spread status while implicitly magnifying Arceus-Psychic's offensive presence by threatening to hit statused targets with boosted Hex.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Arceus-Psychic could run Fire Blast in place of Will-O-Wisp to chip at Steel-types such as Magearna and Celesteela that could otherwise switch into it comfortably while still managing to do enough damage to offensive Necrozma-DM to feasibly deter it from setting up.
* Roar is an option to attempt to compensate for the ease of various sweepers setting up on Arceus-Psychic on one slot. It is overly passive, but it can be a relatively viable option if paired with Spikes setters to add some punishment to the phazing. It also makes it possible for Arceus-Psychic to escape Gothitelle's trapping.
* Options that defensive Arceus formes traditionally use, such as Calm Mind and Defog, are not worth considering due to Arceus-Psychic's bad offensive typing and matchup against Stealth Rock setters.
* Running Whirlpool + Perish Song allows Arceus-Psychic to trap and remove Pokemon that switch into it. Most Pokemon beat Arceus-Psychic easily within three turns, but those hoping to stall it out with Toxic such as Arceus-Water and Necrozma-DM could actually lose to this.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Dark-types**: Dark-types are immune to Judgment and threaten Arceus-Psychic with super effective STAB moves, making them serve as hard checks. Probably the best counter to Arceus-Psychic is Calm Mind Arceus-Dark, which can boost on it safely, heals off status with Refresh, and has a powerful super effective STAB move; non-Calm Mind variants also win easily, as their Judgment 2HKOes Arceus-Psychic. Yveltal is immune to Arceus-Psychic's Judgment, at worst 2HKOes with Dark Pulse, and isn't bothered by Will-O-Wisp, making it a solid counter.
**Ghost-types**: Marshadow and Mega Gengar are both capable of outspeeding and revenge killing Arceus-Psychic with their devastating STAB moves, although neither will OHKO and both get OHKOed in return, so Arceus-Psychic can deter these Pokemon by avoiding chip damage. Lunala, Arceus-Ghost, and Giratina-O check Arceus-Psychic by threatening it with super effective STAB moves and mostly fear taking Toxic in return. Giratina will easily Toxic stall Arceus-Psychic and can heal its own status with Rest.
**Gothitelle**: Gothitelle can switch into any of Arceus-Psychic's sets, PP stall it, and eliminate it with no risk, severely undermining its utility as a defensive Pokemon.
**Wallbreakers**: Due to Arceus-Psychic's passive nature, wallbreakers such as Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, Choice Band Ho-Oh, and (if lacking Ice Beam) Rayquaza should be able to break through Arceus-Psychic by outdamaging its attacks and recovery. Setup sweepers such as Xerneas can similarly exploit it for setup.
**Status Spreaders**: Pokemon that can spread Toxic, such as support Arceus formes, defensive Necrozma-DM, Lugia, defensive Ho-Oh sets, Giratina, and other passive Pokemon should be able to shrug off hits from Arceus-Psychic and Toxic stall it.
**Steel-types**: Necrozma-DM has little to fear from Arceus-Psychic except Will-O-Wisp, and while burning Necrozma-DM is a very effective punish option, both offensive and defensive sets still check Arceus-Psychic when burned. Celesteela, Magearna, Skarmory, and the rest of the tier's Steel-types resist Psychic moves and are immune to Toxic, allowing them to completely wall it with little risk and set up on or Toxic stall it.
* A Psychic typing allows Arceus-Psychic to resist attacks from Psychic-type attackers and Psychic terrain teams, allowing it to switch into and wall the most dangerous attackers in those archetypes, most notably Ultra Necrozma. This provides Arceus-Psychic with its main niche as a solid but passive answer to these builds.
* Arceus-Psychic's typing also allows it to handle a variety of miscellaneous threats including Mega Lucario, Blaziken, and Toxapex. A resistance to Fighting is particularly noteworthy, as it distinguishes Arceus-Psychic from Arceus-Dark, the Arceus forme more typically used to handle Psychic-types and Psychic Terrain teams.
* Access to status options including Toxic to put passive Pokemon on a timer and Will-O-Wisp to weaken physical attackers allows Arceus-Psychic to punish most of its switch-ins.
* Arceus-Psychic is extremely passive, as Judgment is resisted by common Steel-, Psychic-, and Dark-types. This leaves Arceus-Psychic reliant on status to punish most of its switch-ins and unable to meaningfully punish bulky Pokemon immune to or capable of removing status.
* Gothitelle can easily trap Arceus-Psychic with Shadow Tag and dispatch it with a PP stall, undermining its reliability as a wall. Mega Gengar also threatens to trap Arceus-Psychic if it falls below 50% HP or gets hit by status, requiring careful play against a common matchup.
* While Arceus-Psychic has a usable defensive typing, it invites weaknesses to Ghost- and Dark-type attackers such as Lunala, Marshadow, Arceus-Dark, Arceus-Ghost, and most importantly Yveltal. This makes it struggle as a general-purpose wall compared to its competition, as other Arceus formes such as Arceus-Water and Arceus-Ground have less relevant weaknesses and cover a similar niche. Because of this, Arceus-Psychic's niche is restricted to teams that need an answer to Psychic terrain teams and cannot afford the Fighting weakness of Arceus-Dark.
[SET]
name: Wall
move 1: Judgment
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Recover
move 4: Ice Beam / Toxic
item: Mind Plate
ability: Multitype
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Judgment is a reliable Psychic-type STAB move that allows Arceus-Psychic to hit Poison- and Fighting-types super effectively, notably achieving OHKOs against Mega Gengar, Marshadow, Blaziken, and Naganadel as well as reliably 2HKOing Toxapex. It also does meaningful chip damage to switch-ins that do not resist it, most notably including Primal Groudon.
* Will-O-Wisp provides Arceus-Psychic with a way to punish physical attackers that may try to take advantage of its passivity to set up on it by burning them and halving their attack. Necrozma-DM in particular is severely debilitated by a burn and would otherwise easily take advantage of Arceus-Psychic with its 4x resistance to Judgment, and Ultra Necrozma is weakened by it enough to keep its damage output manageable as Arceus-Psychic chips at it.
* Recover is the mandatory healing move, keeping Arceus-Psychic healthy to take hits throughout the match.
* Ice Beam allows Arceus-Psychic to punish Dragon-type sweepers that may take advantage of its passive nature to set up, notably OHKOing Mega Salamence, 2HKOing Zygarde-C, and 2HKOing Ultra Necrozma after burn or Stealth Rock damage.
* Toxic can be used as a way to threaten passive special attackers, such as support Arceus formes that do not fear a burn and can heal off chip damage from Judgment.
Set Details
========
* Full investment in HP increases Arceus-Psychic's bulk, allowing it to sponge hits and provide team support throughout the match.
* Full Speed investment allows Arceus-Psychic to at worst Speed tie with other base 120 Speed Pokemon, allowing it to threaten Arceus-Ground with a burn before it can use Substitute and Mega Salamence with Ice Beam before it can attack.
* An alternative EV spread of 252 HP / 64 SpD / 192 Spe allows Arceus-Psychic to better take hits from the Psychic-types it is meant to check, notably allowing it to switch into Psychic from Deoxys-A and still tank a Dark Pulse before OHKOing. The Speed investment is still enough to outspeed Mega Lucario and threaten it with Will-O-Wisp and Judgment.
* Multitype is Arceus's mandatory ability and combines with Mind Plate to form Arceus-Psychic and provide it with a reliable STAB move in Judgment.
Usage Tips
========
* Arceus-Psychic should be liberally switched into the Pokemon it is meant to check, especially Psychic-types such as Ultra Necrozma, Mewtwo formes and Deoxys-A, as its bulk and recovery allow it to sponge their otherwise threatening hits throughout the match. However, be careful when facing a boosted Ultra Necrozma, as its Light That Burns the Sky has a chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock at +2. Prevent this situation by seeking to burn Ultra Necrozma before it transforms or relying on Dark-types to take that Z-Move.
* Note that despite their powerful super effective STAB moves and higher Speed, neither Marshadow nor Mega Gengar is capable of OHKOing Arceus-Psychic from full HP even after Stealth Rock, while Arceus-Psychic does OHKO with Judgment, so keep Arceus-Psychic healthy allows it to be used as a check against these in a pinch. At the same time, be careful to avoid being trapped by Mega Gengar if Arceus-Psychic falls into KO range of Hex or Shadow Ball.
* After Arceus-Psychic is brought in against a Pokemon it checks, your opponent will most likely switch to either an attacker that can set up on Arceus-Psychic or a passive special attacker that can easily wall it; try to predict these switches and punish them with Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, or a double switch as appropriate.
* Try to avoid status, especially poison, as it will severely limit Arceus-Psychic's ability to sponge hits. Trading Toxic with other passive Pokemon may be worth it if the opponent lacks a way to remove it, especially given Arceus-Psychic's matchup-reliance, but avoid doing this if facing Arceus-Psychic's ideal matchup against Psychic Terrain teams.
* If running other Pokemon with Toxic, be careful clicking Will-O-Wisp when anticipating switches. Passive Pokemon such as Arceus-Water, which often switch into Arceus-Psychic, can actually benefit from being burned, as they do not mind the Attack drop and become immune to Toxic.
* Arceus-Psychic lacks a way to meaningfully damage passive Pokemon capable of recovering or blocking status, notably including Mega Sableye, Blissey, and Chansey. If the opponent has such a Pokemon, Arceus-Psychic will be borderline useless, as the opponent can just switch to them with no penalty whenever Arceus-Psychic is sent out. Unless trying to bait a switch to these Pokemon, such as by double-switching, simply do not send out Arceus-Psychic at all in this matchup, as that way it can at least pressure the opponent by threatening to be a sweeping Arceus forme.
Team Options
========
* Arceus-Psychic is meant to protect a team from Psychic Terrain and Psychic-type attackers, so teams that need an answer to these threats but cannot afford the Fighting-type weakness of Arceus-Dark may consider Arceus-Psychic.
* Arceus-Psychic's passivity allows sweepers to take advantage of it and set up, so a Pokemon that can patch up these weaknesses, such as Marshadow, Choice Scarf Xerneas, or Choice Scarf Yveltal, would make a good partner.
* Arceus-Psychic is easily exploited by Dark-types, so a Fairy-type that can switch into attacks from especially Yveltal would be helpful. Magearna stands out as the Pokemon most capable of hard switching into Dark-types repeatedly, and bulkier or Choice Xerneas sets can also perform this role effectively.
* Similarly, Arceus-Psychic appreciates a good switch-in to Ghost-type attacks that could hit it super effectively. Yveltal is a good partner in this regard, threatening the tier's Ghost-types with an OHKO and having enough bulk to comfortably take a few resisted attacks even from powerful attackers such as Marshadow and Mega Gengar.
* Because Arceus-Psychic is so passive, the main way to punish the opponent for offensive plays, especially if lacking dual status, is to run a wallbreaker that can be used to double switch into. Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Choice Specs Xerneas and Yveltal are examples of wallbreakers that can be devastating given good prediction.
* Hex Mega Gengar is a very good partner for dual status Arceus-Psychic, as it greatly appreciates Arceus-Psychic's ability to spread status while implicitly magnifying Arceus-Psychic's offensive presence by threatening to hit statused targets with boosted Hex.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Arceus-Psychic could run Fire Blast in place of Will-O-Wisp to chip at Steel-types such as Magearna and Celesteela that could otherwise switch into it comfortably while still managing to do enough damage to offensive Necrozma-DM to feasibly deter it from setting up.
* Roar is an option to attempt to compensate for the ease of various sweepers setting up on Arceus-Psychic on one slot. It is overly passive, but it can be a relatively viable option if paired with Spikes setters to add some punishment to the phazing. It also makes it possible for Arceus-Psychic to escape Gothitelle's trapping.
* Options that defensive Arceus formes traditionally use, such as Calm Mind and Defog, are not worth considering due to Arceus-Psychic's bad offensive typing and matchup against Stealth Rock setters.
* Running Whirlpool + Perish Song allows Arceus-Psychic to trap and remove Pokemon that switch into it. Most Pokemon beat Arceus-Psychic easily within three turns, but those hoping to stall it out with Toxic such as Arceus-Water and Necrozma-DM could actually lose to this.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Dark-types**: Dark-types are immune to Judgment and threaten Arceus-Psychic with super effective STAB moves, making them serve as hard checks. Probably the best counter to Arceus-Psychic is Calm Mind Arceus-Dark, which can boost on it safely, heals off status with Refresh, and has a powerful super effective STAB move; non-Calm Mind variants also win easily, as their Judgment 2HKOes Arceus-Psychic. Yveltal is immune to Arceus-Psychic's Judgment, at worst 2HKOes with Dark Pulse, and isn't bothered by Will-O-Wisp, making it a solid counter.
**Ghost-types**: Marshadow and Mega Gengar are both capable of outspeeding and revenge killing Arceus-Psychic with their devastating STAB moves, although neither will OHKO and both get OHKOed in return, so Arceus-Psychic can deter these Pokemon by avoiding chip damage. Lunala, Arceus-Ghost, and Giratina-O check Arceus-Psychic by threatening it with super effective STAB moves and mostly fear taking Toxic in return. Giratina will easily Toxic stall Arceus-Psychic and can heal its own status with Rest.
**Gothitelle**: Gothitelle can switch into any of Arceus-Psychic's sets, PP stall it, and eliminate it with no risk, severely undermining its utility as a defensive Pokemon.
**Wallbreakers**: Due to Arceus-Psychic's passive nature, wallbreakers such as Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, Choice Band Ho-Oh, and (if lacking Ice Beam) Rayquaza should be able to break through Arceus-Psychic by outdamaging its attacks and recovery. Setup sweepers such as Xerneas can similarly exploit it for setup.
**Status Spreaders**: Pokemon that can spread Toxic, such as support Arceus formes, defensive Necrozma-DM, Lugia, defensive Ho-Oh sets, Giratina, and other passive Pokemon should be able to shrug off hits from Arceus-Psychic and Toxic stall it.
**Steel-types**: Necrozma-DM has little to fear from Arceus-Psychic except Will-O-Wisp, and while burning Necrozma-DM is a very effective punish option, both offensive and defensive sets still check Arceus-Psychic when burned. Celesteela, Magearna, Skarmory, and the rest of the tier's Steel-types resist Psychic moves and are immune to Toxic, allowing them to completely wall it with little risk and set up on or Toxic stall it.
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