Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
Tera Type:
Ghost -> Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
Legends say this Pokemon shaped the world but can it shape its place in Ubers?
(- Actually, according to Pokemon lore, this is just its hologram or something, that's the Arceus we get to use. In actuality it's beyond our comprehension and way stronger than every other mon. So this is just a fraction of its actual power and it's been the best mon in Ubers forever. I mean sure you can say PDon is better in gens 6 and 7 but I'd sooner drop PDon than Arceus, stall teams would agree. I am counting all its forms for this statement.)
Dragon Dance Arceus-Ground boasts the famed EdgeQuake combination that turns it into a solid wallbreaker and setup sweeper on hyper offense teams. Stone Edge covers Ground-immune targets like Ho-Oh as well as Tera Flying Zacian.
- Yup.
Taunt lets Arceus-Ground block status moves like Will-O-Wisp from bulky Arceus formes like Arceus-Fairy, deny their recovery, and prevent phazing attempts from foes like Ting-Lu.
- Here I'd also mention that Taunt is most useful against stall, especially Dondozo and Gliscor, which can facilitate your stall breaking gameplan. It also crucially helps against defense boosting mons like IDCM Arceus and NDM and Dondozo so they don't sweep your offensive team by denying them free setup. Yes, DONDOZO WILL SWEEP YOU IF YOU DON'T HAVE TAUNT AS SOON AS YOUR SPECIAL ATTACKERS DIE. It's really important for offensive teams to have at least one mon with Taunt for these reasons and Arceus-Ground is usually the best candidate for the job. You don't have to go so in detail as I did, but in practice this comes up a lot more often than the examples you mentioned. Very few Arceus-Fairy run Wisp nowadays because it's not great on it and Taunting Lu is usually not a good play because that means they could get a free Ruination off, at which point you're better off just clicking EQ.
- Taunt is here for the consistency for situations like closing out endgames by not letting the opponent set up.
Tera Ghost provides invaluable immunities to Arceus’s Extreme Speed and Koraidon’s Low Kick, thwarting their revenge killing attempts.
- Tera Ground is definitely widely agreed to be the best Tera Type for it and I agree with that as well. The immunities Tera Ghost provides aren't all that invaluable as you say. (Fyi, Tera Ghost is used when you need a mon to have it because your team would be too Ekiller weak otherwise and that's the main purpose of Tera Ghost, it can also help out with spinblocking. The Low Kick interaction almost never comes up.) Now, Tera Ground gives you one very specific and, as some might say, invaluable interaction and that is OHKOing Koraidon at +1. Usually EQ never kills from full, but if you Tera Ground it does. It also gives you a neat boost against other targets and makes it so that something like Zacian can't Tera out of your EQ unless they have Tera Flying. What also comes up very often in practice is that you can pick off Kyogres from much higher ranges and also less notably other Arceus, which gives you much a lot more sweeping ability. Tera Ground is crucial.
Suicide leads like Glimmora, Ribombee, and Grimmsnarl are important additions.
- Change "additions" to "partners".
Glimmora lays Spikes and Toxic Spikes, wearing down foes and most notably letting Arceus-Ground 2HKO bulky Arceus formes with +1 Earthquake after one layer of Spikes or one turn of Toxic Spikes poison damage. Ribombee sets Sticky Web, allowing Arceus-Ground to outspeed Zacian-C and Eternatus unboosted and even Choice Scarf Koraidon at +1.
- Here is a very important thing you should also mention. The reason we have max speed on this Arceus is because that allows it to outspeed Deoxys-Speed at -1 Speed. That is an important interaction because Glimmora runs Mud Shot and Ribombee often runs Pounce and they usually struggle against Deoxys-Speed. What this allows you to do is lower Deoxys-Speed's Speed stat, go Arceus if they try to Thunder Wave, which is common after Turn 1 Taunt because it's usually safe, and then you can get a free DD or Taunt if they got no hazards up as you did this. It's not something you always have to do, but it's a very good tool for counterplay against Deo-S, which would otherwise be a tougher matchup.
- What you can say in a simplified version should be something like: "Max Speed allows Arceus-Ground to outspeed Deoxys-Speed at -1 from Mud Shot or Pounce, which can help immensely in that otherwise disadvantageous lead-off matchup between Glimmora or Ribombee against Deoxys-Speed." Also, a neat bonus is that you get the jump on most other Arceus even without a speed boost, which sinergizes great with Taunt and allows Arceus to do its job even better, while the loss in bulk isn't coming into play in most games.
Grimmsnarl provides dual screens support for easier setup.
- Yup.
Lastly, special wallbreakers like Kyogre and Eternatus take care of Landorus-T and Arceus-Water.
- Instead of "take care" say "help deal with" and add bulky Kyogre as the one for the targets, because that's the most important Pokemon to deal with if you want Arceus-Ground to sweep.
- I can't understate how important it is to not let Dondozo sweep you. That is why every Hyper Offense team should have at least 1 Special Attacker in combination with at least one Taunt mon. So, you're making a good call mentioning Special attackers. It's really important to have Special attackers on your team because most of your team is most likely to be physical attckers anyway and leaning entirely into that is just food for Dozo.
- Kyogre is NOT a good partner in MOST cases for Arceus-Ground. Not only does it power up opposing Water moves, which innately decreases setup opportunities if they have an Arceus-Water, but they also do NOT "take care" of Lando-T or Arceus-Water. When you send in your Kyogre against them you know what happens? They switch and their Lando or Arceus remain at perfect health. Kyogre also doesn't really fit the best on most HO structures. It is a Special attacker and that is good, but as I said, in MOST cases, it's not gonna be a good idea to pair DD Arc-Ground with a Kyogre.
- Etern is a fine partner, it's important to have special attackers on your team for the aforementioned reasons in the Taunt section as well. If you're not using Glimmora it's extra valuable because it gives you a Tspike absorber for the team. Good job on that!
- Lunala is one of the best partners because firstly, if you're using Arceus-Ground, that means you're not using Arceus-Ghost, and having a spinblocker is very important for HO teams. Lunala is the best alternative. That's the first reason why Lunala is a great partner. Lunala is also a Special attacker, which as you know is very important. Another convenient thing about Lunala is that it sets up on the mons that Arceus-Ground can't beat 1v1 from full health like Lando, defensive Arceus formes, and Kyogre.
- The conclusion is: from partners remove Kyogre and replace it with Lunala, and from targets add bulky Kyogre. Feel free to expalin why Lunala is so important and I assume you know why Kyogre is important to be dealt with if you wanna sweep with Arceus-Ground.
