[OVERVIEW]
Arcanine may be known as the Legendary Pokemon in-game, but in reality, it is largely underwhelming due to its defensively abysmal Fire typing. RBY UU is chock full of bulky Water-types like Omastar and Vaporeon that can switch in and easily suppress Fire-type Pokemon. Tentacruel gets a special mention for being able to outspeed these Fire-types and either deal considerable damage with Surf, or predict a switch and pivot with Wrap. Even among Fire-types, however, it’s tough to justify using Arcanine over Moltres due to its inferior Special and Attack stats. Because of these flaws, Arcanine is not recommended for use on competitive RBY UU teams, and thus rarely sees play.
In spite of all of this, Arcanine does have a niche in the UU metagame. Its 95 base Speed and access to Agility lets Arcanine outpace most other Agility users, like Articuno and Dragonite, and it possesses a strong Body Slam to deter switch-ins. This sounds a lot like a weaker Dodrio at first, but what sets Arcanine apart is a powerful STAB Fire Blast and its 30% burn rate, not only threatening the likes of Kangaskhan and Persian, but also letting it deal considerable mixed damage.
[SET]
name: Agility Sweeper
move 1: Agility
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Hyper Beam
move 4: Fire Blast
Agility is a great boon to Arcanine due its removal of paralysis’s Speed debuff on top of providing a boost that lets it outpace even a boosted Articuno. The set’s idea is to set up an Agility and then take advantage of Arcanine’s impressive mixed attack power while potentially spreading status along the way. Body Slam threatens to paralyze non-Normal-types that would switch in on it and, along with Hyper Beam, makes use of Arcanine’s impressive base 110 Attack. These two moves make a nice one-two punch; if Dugtrio or Kadabra switched in on a Body Slam, then Hyper Beam can dispose of them on the following turn and, therefore, not require a recharge turn. Rounding out the set is STAB Fire Blast, which hits like a truck and has a relatively high chance of burning the opponent on hit, which can totally ruin an opposing Tentacruel, Dugtrio, or Kangaskhan. Although a situational option at best, Toxic is an alternative move option that specifically takes aim at Agility + Wrap Dragonite, causing it to take more damage than it deals with Wrap.
Arcanine is best mid- or late-game when it can outrun and thus sweep teams, but absolutely requires a team that can scout out and remove Water-types; examples of potential teammates include Venusaur and Electabuzz. Switching Arcanine in as a Pokemon like Hypno uses Rest is a great way to get a free Agility off. Overall, though, it is a very difficult Pokemon to use, and is just not very good in general.
[CREDITS]
Written by: [[Abbey Street, 179854]]
Quality checked by: [[Plague von Karma, 236353], [phoopes, 96315]]
Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]
Arcanine may be known as the Legendary Pokemon in-game, but in reality, it is largely underwhelming due to its defensively abysmal Fire typing. RBY UU is chock full of bulky Water-types like Omastar and Vaporeon that can switch in and easily suppress Fire-type Pokemon. Tentacruel gets a special mention for being able to outspeed these Fire-types and either deal considerable damage with Surf, or predict a switch and pivot with Wrap. Even among Fire-types, however, it’s tough to justify using Arcanine over Moltres due to its inferior Special and Attack stats. Because of these flaws, Arcanine is not recommended for use on competitive RBY UU teams, and thus rarely sees play.
In spite of all of this, Arcanine does have a niche in the UU metagame. Its 95 base Speed and access to Agility lets Arcanine outpace most other Agility users, like Articuno and Dragonite, and it possesses a strong Body Slam to deter switch-ins. This sounds a lot like a weaker Dodrio at first, but what sets Arcanine apart is a powerful STAB Fire Blast and its 30% burn rate, not only threatening the likes of Kangaskhan and Persian, but also letting it deal considerable mixed damage.
[SET]
name: Agility Sweeper
move 1: Agility
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Hyper Beam
move 4: Fire Blast
Agility is a great boon to Arcanine due its removal of paralysis’s Speed debuff on top of providing a boost that lets it outpace even a boosted Articuno. The set’s idea is to set up an Agility and then take advantage of Arcanine’s impressive mixed attack power while potentially spreading status along the way. Body Slam threatens to paralyze non-Normal-types that would switch in on it and, along with Hyper Beam, makes use of Arcanine’s impressive base 110 Attack. These two moves make a nice one-two punch; if Dugtrio or Kadabra switched in on a Body Slam, then Hyper Beam can dispose of them on the following turn and, therefore, not require a recharge turn. Rounding out the set is STAB Fire Blast, which hits like a truck and has a relatively high chance of burning the opponent on hit, which can totally ruin an opposing Tentacruel, Dugtrio, or Kangaskhan. Although a situational option at best, Toxic is an alternative move option that specifically takes aim at Agility + Wrap Dragonite, causing it to take more damage than it deals with Wrap.
Arcanine is best mid- or late-game when it can outrun and thus sweep teams, but absolutely requires a team that can scout out and remove Water-types; examples of potential teammates include Venusaur and Electabuzz. Switching Arcanine in as a Pokemon like Hypno uses Rest is a great way to get a free Agility off. Overall, though, it is a very difficult Pokemon to use, and is just not very good in general.
[CREDITS]
Written by: [[Abbey Street, 179854]]
Quality checked by: [[Plague von Karma, 236353], [phoopes, 96315]]
Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]
Last edited:
