[OVERVIEW]
Access to the powerful priority of Extreme Speed, the simultaneous offensive and defensive boosting of Curse, and the healing of Morning Sun solidifies Arcanine as a sweeper to be respected, capable of taking advantage of common passive foes such as Bronzong, Sylveon, Amoonguss, Klefki, and Wo-Chien as well as KOing common offensive threats like Flygon, Munkidori, and Flamigo. Additionally, Arcanine complements many sweepers such as Alolan Ninetales, Flygon, Oricorio-P, and Diancie, making it slot in easily on tons of offensive teams. Arcanine also has use throughout the course of a game, as with Intimidate, it can slow down opposing wallbreakers and sweepers, easing the burden on its teammates. However, if Arcanine wants to get past bulky Water-types like Vaporeon and Swampert, then it's forced to Terastallize and, consequently, risk a Scald burn from Vaporeon. On top of that, Arcanine often finds itself stuck between Stealth Rock and a hard place by having to choose between Leftovers + Crunch and Heavy-Duty Boots + Morning Sun; the former combination provides Arcanine coverage to nail Basculegion-M and Chandelure at the risk of being chipped heavily by entry hazards, while the latter offers reliable healing and more chances to set up during a game at the cost of being hard walled by the aforementioned Ghost-types.
[SET]
name: Curse Sweeper
move 1: Curse
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Extreme Speed
move 4: Crunch / Morning Sun
item: Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant
evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
tera type: Normal
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Extreme Speed allows Arcanine to offset Curse's Speed drops so that it can take out faster, more threatening foes like Barraskewda, Flygon, and Flamigo without issue. Crunch targets foes that stonewall Arcanine otherwise such as Basculegion-M and Chandelure. On the other hand, Morning Sun offers recovery for Arcanine, letting it use Curse repeatedly. Leftovers provides recovery to non-Morning Sun sets and is preferred on more fast-paced teams, which Arcanine often finds itself on, while Heavy-Duty Boots alleviates Arcanine's Stealth Rock weakness. Tera Normal powers up Extreme Speed to achieve rolls like OHKOing Barraskewda at +1 and foes such as Flamigo and Flygon at +2. Additionally, it lets Arcanine blank a Shadow Ball from Chandelure so that it can retaliate with a Crunch afterwards.
Arcanine thrives on offensive teams, enjoying partners like Tornadus, Flygon, and Paldean Tauros-W with how they can weaken checks such as Diancie, Rhyperior, and Vaporeon. Grassy Terrain teams especially appreciate Arcanine, and they complement it very well; the Grassy Terrain set by Thwackey offers extra recovery to Arcanine and weakens Earthquake, while Arcanine greatly benefits common Terrain sweepers like Oricorio-P, Cinccino, Grafaiai, Torterra, and Diancie by beating Steel-types like Bronzong and Copperajah. In return, the first three sweepers weaken shared checks with Arcanine like Rhyperior, Torterra handles bulky Water-types such as Vaporeon and Swampert, and Diancie deals with Fire-types like Chandelure and Incineroar. Dual screens Klefki and Aurora Veil Alolan Ninetales pair well with Arcanine, as they both ease setup and pair well with Cinccino, which can ensure entry hazards are removed for Arcanine. Morning Sun Arcanine struggles to get past Bascluegion-M and is walled by Chandelure, so Pokemon such as Toxtricity, Overqwil, and Rhyperior all complement it very well, handling these threats for it. Additionally, Altaria and bulky Water-types like Swampert and Vaporeon can prove difficult for Arcanine to break through, so it appreciates being alongside Pokemon such as Diancie, Breloom, and Toxtricity, which can take advantage of these foes.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Howl can be used over Curse to not drop Arcanine's Speed, but the bulk gained from Curse and the priority from Extreme Speed are often enough to offset this downside.
Checks and Counters
====
**Chandelure and Basculegion-M**: Chandelure and Basculegion-M are immune to Extreme Speed and don't mind Flare Blitz, making them Arcanine's number one adversaries. They are also faster than it and can throw out a powerful Shadow Ball, Liquidation, or Surf. However, Arcanine can play around them with Tera Normal, and with Crunch, it has a fighting chance against them.
**Bulky Water-types**: Vaporeon, Milotic, and Swampert are annoying for Arcanine to break through and often force it out, since they resist its Flare Blitz and, in the former two's case, can heal up as well. However, after using Curse twice and with Tera Normal, Arcanine can then net 2HKOs on both Vaporeon and Milotic while dealing great damage to Swampert.
**Ground-types**: Flygon and Gligar can throw a powerful Earthquake at Arcanine, forcing it to Terastallize, quickly KO them, or heal up constantly. However, both of these Ground-types can't handle Arcanine's Extreme Speed and Flare Blitz, respectively, too well. Rhyperior, though, can wall Arcanine quite well due to being a Rock-type, and its impressive physical bulk usually forces Arcanine to rely on teammates to weaken it beforehand.
**Entry Hazards and Chip Damage**: Due to not wanting to be walled by Chandelure and Basculegion-M, Arcanine often takes Leftovers over Heavy-Duty Boots, since the longevity offsets Crunch replacing Morning Sun in its moveset. Unfortunately, this leads to Arcanine being vulnerable to chip damage in many forms, including Stealth Rock and Spikes, and even if it carries Heavy-Duty Boots, attacks from foes it enjoys switching into such as Bronzong's Psychic Noise, Amoonguss's Sludge Bomb, and Nasty Plot Alolan Ninetales's non-Terastallized Tera Blast can weaken Arcanine too.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/powerofmemes.583607/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rabia.336073/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/lucario.189361/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/kamenalliterator.655366/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Access to the powerful priority of Extreme Speed, the simultaneous offensive and defensive boosting of Curse, and the healing of Morning Sun solidifies Arcanine as a sweeper to be respected, capable of taking advantage of common passive foes such as Bronzong, Sylveon, Amoonguss, Klefki, and Wo-Chien as well as KOing common offensive threats like Flygon, Munkidori, and Flamigo. Additionally, Arcanine complements many sweepers such as Alolan Ninetales, Flygon, Oricorio-P, and Diancie, making it slot in easily on tons of offensive teams. Arcanine also has use throughout the course of a game, as with Intimidate, it can slow down opposing wallbreakers and sweepers, easing the burden on its teammates. However, if Arcanine wants to get past bulky Water-types like Vaporeon and Swampert, then it's forced to Terastallize and, consequently, risk a Scald burn from Vaporeon. On top of that, Arcanine often finds itself stuck between Stealth Rock and a hard place by having to choose between Leftovers + Crunch and Heavy-Duty Boots + Morning Sun; the former combination provides Arcanine coverage to nail Basculegion-M and Chandelure at the risk of being chipped heavily by entry hazards, while the latter offers reliable healing and more chances to set up during a game at the cost of being hard walled by the aforementioned Ghost-types.
[SET]
name: Curse Sweeper
move 1: Curse
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Extreme Speed
move 4: Crunch / Morning Sun
item: Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant
evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
tera type: Normal
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Extreme Speed allows Arcanine to offset Curse's Speed drops so that it can take out faster, more threatening foes like Barraskewda, Flygon, and Flamigo without issue. Crunch targets foes that stonewall Arcanine otherwise such as Basculegion-M and Chandelure. On the other hand, Morning Sun offers recovery for Arcanine, letting it use Curse repeatedly. Leftovers provides recovery to non-Morning Sun sets and is preferred on more fast-paced teams, which Arcanine often finds itself on, while Heavy-Duty Boots alleviates Arcanine's Stealth Rock weakness. Tera Normal powers up Extreme Speed to achieve rolls like OHKOing Barraskewda at +1 and foes such as Flamigo and Flygon at +2. Additionally, it lets Arcanine blank a Shadow Ball from Chandelure so that it can retaliate with a Crunch afterwards.
Arcanine thrives on offensive teams, enjoying partners like Tornadus, Flygon, and Paldean Tauros-W with how they can weaken checks such as Diancie, Rhyperior, and Vaporeon. Grassy Terrain teams especially appreciate Arcanine, and they complement it very well; the Grassy Terrain set by Thwackey offers extra recovery to Arcanine and weakens Earthquake, while Arcanine greatly benefits common Terrain sweepers like Oricorio-P, Cinccino, Grafaiai, Torterra, and Diancie by beating Steel-types like Bronzong and Copperajah. In return, the first three sweepers weaken shared checks with Arcanine like Rhyperior, Torterra handles bulky Water-types such as Vaporeon and Swampert, and Diancie deals with Fire-types like Chandelure and Incineroar. Dual screens Klefki and Aurora Veil Alolan Ninetales pair well with Arcanine, as they both ease setup and pair well with Cinccino, which can ensure entry hazards are removed for Arcanine. Morning Sun Arcanine struggles to get past Bascluegion-M and is walled by Chandelure, so Pokemon such as Toxtricity, Overqwil, and Rhyperior all complement it very well, handling these threats for it. Additionally, Altaria and bulky Water-types like Swampert and Vaporeon can prove difficult for Arcanine to break through, so it appreciates being alongside Pokemon such as Diancie, Breloom, and Toxtricity, which can take advantage of these foes.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Howl can be used over Curse to not drop Arcanine's Speed, but the bulk gained from Curse and the priority from Extreme Speed are often enough to offset this downside.
Checks and Counters
====
**Chandelure and Basculegion-M**: Chandelure and Basculegion-M are immune to Extreme Speed and don't mind Flare Blitz, making them Arcanine's number one adversaries. They are also faster than it and can throw out a powerful Shadow Ball, Liquidation, or Surf. However, Arcanine can play around them with Tera Normal, and with Crunch, it has a fighting chance against them.
**Bulky Water-types**: Vaporeon, Milotic, and Swampert are annoying for Arcanine to break through and often force it out, since they resist its Flare Blitz and, in the former two's case, can heal up as well. However, after using Curse twice and with Tera Normal, Arcanine can then net 2HKOs on both Vaporeon and Milotic while dealing great damage to Swampert.
**Ground-types**: Flygon and Gligar can throw a powerful Earthquake at Arcanine, forcing it to Terastallize, quickly KO them, or heal up constantly. However, both of these Ground-types can't handle Arcanine's Extreme Speed and Flare Blitz, respectively, too well. Rhyperior, though, can wall Arcanine quite well due to being a Rock-type, and its impressive physical bulk usually forces Arcanine to rely on teammates to weaken it beforehand.
**Entry Hazards and Chip Damage**: Due to not wanting to be walled by Chandelure and Basculegion-M, Arcanine often takes Leftovers over Heavy-Duty Boots, since the longevity offsets Crunch replacing Morning Sun in its moveset. Unfortunately, this leads to Arcanine being vulnerable to chip damage in many forms, including Stealth Rock and Spikes, and even if it carries Heavy-Duty Boots, attacks from foes it enjoys switching into such as Bronzong's Psychic Noise, Amoonguss's Sludge Bomb, and Nasty Plot Alolan Ninetales's non-Terastallized Tera Blast can weaken Arcanine too.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/powerofmemes.583607/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rabia.336073/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/lucario.189361/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/kamenalliterator.655366/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Last edited:
