[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 5 onwards
**Price Range**: 9-10 points
**Overview**: Arcanine has a nice package of mixed bulk, useful abilities, and a decent supporting movepool to complement its Fire typing, allowing it to serve as a capable balance pivot. It is also no slouch offensively, packing a slew of high-Base power moves including Flare Blitz, Close Combat, Outrage, and the coveted Extreme Speed. One of its most impactful roles is checking and punishing physical attackers with its combination of Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp while staying healthy thanks to Morning Sun. While all of these boons sound great on paper, Arcanine is truly a jack-of-all-trades but master of none in practice; its Attack is quite modest by offensive standards and it struggles making progress due to its lack of a decent setup move. Finally, it is frequently forced to run Heavy-Duty Boots thanks to its weakness to Stealth Rock, forfeiting its ability to put out more damage with a damage-boosting item.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Arcanine leverages its decent mixed bulk to switch into and check various attacking threats and then burn them with Will-O-Wisp or fight back with its own attacks while staying healthy with Morning Sun and forcing out opposing setup sweepers with Roar.
**Offensive Wallbreaker**: Arcanine uses its STAB-Boosted Flare Blitz and high-power coverage moves backed by a Choice Band to dish out serious damage, and it can pick off faster foes with Extreme Speed.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Flare Blitz, Flamethrower, Overheat
**Setup Moves**: Flame Charge
**Utility Moves**: Morning Sun, Roar, Will-O-Wisp
**Coverage**: Close Combat, Crunch, Extreme Speed, Iron Head, Outrage, Play Rough, Psychic Fangs, Scorching Sands, Wild Charge
Niche Moves
========
**Solar Beam**: Solar Beam is an effective way to deal with Water-types attempting to check Arcanine, and it can be activated with a Power Herb or from a teammate with Drought.
**Fire Spin**: Fire Spin is a decent option against bulkier foes, trapping them and forcing them to waste recovery PP or wearing them down for Arcanine to KO.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Thanks to its weakness to Stealth Rock and susceptibility to Spikes, Arcanine is almost always recommended to run Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid entry hazard damage.
**Choice Band**: A Choice Band can significantly boost Arcanine's offensive prowess, allowing it to deal more damage with its STAB-boosted Flare Blitz and pick off more foes with Extreme Speed.
Niche Items
========
**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet can punish physical attackers effectively when dealing with entry hazards is not a concern.
**Air Balloon**: An Air Balloon can allow Arcanine to switch into a dangerous Ground-type attack and throw out a Will-O-Wisp to punish the attacker.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers can help Arcanine stay healthy and conserve Morning Sun's limited PP if its teammates can keep entry hazards off the field.
**Resistance Berries**: A resistance Berry can help lure and dispatch foes attempting to knock out Arcanine with a super effective attack.
Tera
========
Arcanine is not generally recommended for a Tera Captain position, as its cost is too prohibitive as to not allow a high-tiered Tera Captain partner. However, it can make decent use of Tera thanks to its mixed bulk and abilities. Tera Steel and Grass take advantage of Flash Fire's Fire immunity to shift Arcanine's defensive profile. Tera Water and Fairy are good options to help it take on other various attackers. For offensive sets, Tera Fire can power up its Flare Blitz, and Tera Normal can help revenges foes by boosting the power of Extreme Speed.
Draft Strategy
========
Arcanine can neither function as an offensive or defensive centerpiece to a draft, and finds itself fitting well on balanced teams that value intimidate and its resistances offered by its Fire typing.
**Entry Hazard Removal**: Between Flare Blitz, Wild Charge, and switching into entry hazards, Arcanine can rack up self-inflicted residual damage quickly, making it essential to partner with teammates that can remove entry hazards. Spinners like Great Tusk, Iron Treads, and Terapagos can take care of this.
**Wallbreakers and Cleaners**: Thanks to its access to Flare Blitz and Extreme Speed, Arcanine can function as an early-game wallbreaker or a late-game sweeper. Cleaners like Greninja and Iron Valiant take advantage of the holes it makes in enemy teams to great effect, where wallbreakers like Palafin and Latios can provide the punching power to allow a late-game Extreme Speed sweep for Arcanine.
**Defensive Partners**: With weaknesses to common Water- and Ground-type attacks, partners like Landorus-Therian, Gholdengo, and Rotom-W are a necessity to cover Arcanine's weaknesses and allow it to stay healthy throughout a match.
Checks and Counters
========
**Entry Hazards**: Arcanine is susceptible to all entry hazards due to its typing, limiting its ability to enter the field with entry hazards up and forcing it to run Heavy-Duty Boots.
**Water-types**: Most Water-types — special attackers especially — fear little from Arcanine's offensive and supporting kit, and they can easily switch in and punish it with their STAB moves. Pokemon like Rotom-W, Walking Wake, and Keldeo all immediately threaten to score an OHKO on it after easily switching in.
**Opposing Fire-types**: Arcanine has poor coverage to take on opposing Fire-types, and most foes have secondary STAB typings that allow them to set up on it while remaining immune to Will-O-Wisp, including Gouging Fire, Ceruledge, and Iron Moth.
**Contact Damage**: Arcanine can find its longevity cut short by taking damage from recoil from Flare Blitz, foes holding Rocky Helmet, and abilities like Rough Skin.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/diviniya.618293/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
**Draft Order**: Round 5 onwards
**Price Range**: 9-10 points
**Overview**: Arcanine has a nice package of mixed bulk, useful abilities, and a decent supporting movepool to complement its Fire typing, allowing it to serve as a capable balance pivot. It is also no slouch offensively, packing a slew of high-Base power moves including Flare Blitz, Close Combat, Outrage, and the coveted Extreme Speed. One of its most impactful roles is checking and punishing physical attackers with its combination of Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp while staying healthy thanks to Morning Sun. While all of these boons sound great on paper, Arcanine is truly a jack-of-all-trades but master of none in practice; its Attack is quite modest by offensive standards and it struggles making progress due to its lack of a decent setup move. Finally, it is frequently forced to run Heavy-Duty Boots thanks to its weakness to Stealth Rock, forfeiting its ability to put out more damage with a damage-boosting item.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Arcanine leverages its decent mixed bulk to switch into and check various attacking threats and then burn them with Will-O-Wisp or fight back with its own attacks while staying healthy with Morning Sun and forcing out opposing setup sweepers with Roar.
**Offensive Wallbreaker**: Arcanine uses its STAB-Boosted Flare Blitz and high-power coverage moves backed by a Choice Band to dish out serious damage, and it can pick off faster foes with Extreme Speed.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Flare Blitz, Flamethrower, Overheat
**Setup Moves**: Flame Charge
**Utility Moves**: Morning Sun, Roar, Will-O-Wisp
**Coverage**: Close Combat, Crunch, Extreme Speed, Iron Head, Outrage, Play Rough, Psychic Fangs, Scorching Sands, Wild Charge
Niche Moves
========
**Solar Beam**: Solar Beam is an effective way to deal with Water-types attempting to check Arcanine, and it can be activated with a Power Herb or from a teammate with Drought.
**Fire Spin**: Fire Spin is a decent option against bulkier foes, trapping them and forcing them to waste recovery PP or wearing them down for Arcanine to KO.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Thanks to its weakness to Stealth Rock and susceptibility to Spikes, Arcanine is almost always recommended to run Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid entry hazard damage.
**Choice Band**: A Choice Band can significantly boost Arcanine's offensive prowess, allowing it to deal more damage with its STAB-boosted Flare Blitz and pick off more foes with Extreme Speed.
Niche Items
========
**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet can punish physical attackers effectively when dealing with entry hazards is not a concern.
**Air Balloon**: An Air Balloon can allow Arcanine to switch into a dangerous Ground-type attack and throw out a Will-O-Wisp to punish the attacker.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers can help Arcanine stay healthy and conserve Morning Sun's limited PP if its teammates can keep entry hazards off the field.
**Resistance Berries**: A resistance Berry can help lure and dispatch foes attempting to knock out Arcanine with a super effective attack.
Tera
========
Arcanine is not generally recommended for a Tera Captain position, as its cost is too prohibitive as to not allow a high-tiered Tera Captain partner. However, it can make decent use of Tera thanks to its mixed bulk and abilities. Tera Steel and Grass take advantage of Flash Fire's Fire immunity to shift Arcanine's defensive profile. Tera Water and Fairy are good options to help it take on other various attackers. For offensive sets, Tera Fire can power up its Flare Blitz, and Tera Normal can help revenges foes by boosting the power of Extreme Speed.
Draft Strategy
========
Arcanine can neither function as an offensive or defensive centerpiece to a draft, and finds itself fitting well on balanced teams that value intimidate and its resistances offered by its Fire typing.
**Entry Hazard Removal**: Between Flare Blitz, Wild Charge, and switching into entry hazards, Arcanine can rack up self-inflicted residual damage quickly, making it essential to partner with teammates that can remove entry hazards. Spinners like Great Tusk, Iron Treads, and Terapagos can take care of this.
**Wallbreakers and Cleaners**: Thanks to its access to Flare Blitz and Extreme Speed, Arcanine can function as an early-game wallbreaker or a late-game sweeper. Cleaners like Greninja and Iron Valiant take advantage of the holes it makes in enemy teams to great effect, where wallbreakers like Palafin and Latios can provide the punching power to allow a late-game Extreme Speed sweep for Arcanine.
**Defensive Partners**: With weaknesses to common Water- and Ground-type attacks, partners like Landorus-Therian, Gholdengo, and Rotom-W are a necessity to cover Arcanine's weaknesses and allow it to stay healthy throughout a match.
Checks and Counters
========
**Entry Hazards**: Arcanine is susceptible to all entry hazards due to its typing, limiting its ability to enter the field with entry hazards up and forcing it to run Heavy-Duty Boots.
**Water-types**: Most Water-types — special attackers especially — fear little from Arcanine's offensive and supporting kit, and they can easily switch in and punish it with their STAB moves. Pokemon like Rotom-W, Walking Wake, and Keldeo all immediately threaten to score an OHKO on it after easily switching in.
**Opposing Fire-types**: Arcanine has poor coverage to take on opposing Fire-types, and most foes have secondary STAB typings that allow them to set up on it while remaining immune to Will-O-Wisp, including Gouging Fire, Ceruledge, and Iron Moth.
**Contact Damage**: Arcanine can find its longevity cut short by taking damage from recoil from Flare Blitz, foes holding Rocky Helmet, and abilities like Rough Skin.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/diviniya.618293/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Last edited:
