QC: Serial Ekiller / Nayrz / Cynara
GP: Fireflame479 / The Dutch Plumberjack
[OVERVIEW]
* Arceus-Ice provides no defensive utility to any team due to its susceptibility to all entry hazards, weakness to Stealth Rock, and horrendous defensive typing offering no resistances other than Ice. This means getting Arceus-Ice in safely is a monumental challenge.
* Arceus-Ice has terrible matchups against a plethora of the top threats in the Ubers metagame such as Necrozma-DM, Marshadow, Magearna, offensive Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, Primal Kyogre, Mega Lucario, and Arceus-Water.
* Arceus-Ice cannot come out on top against stall teams thanks to Blissey and Chansey utilizing Confide to remove Special Attack boosts gained from Calm Mind, while Toxapex takes on Arceus-Ice variants that don't use Thunder to remove all of its boosts with Haze.
* While Arceus-Ice struggles defensively, it can perform decently well offensively thanks to its coverage being quite difficult to switch into for certain balance teams. Arceus-Ice sets itself apart from Kyurem-W thanks to its better Speed tier and defensive stats.
* Arceus-Ice performs well against Zygarde-C, special Arceus-Ground, Mega Salamence, Yveltal, Rayquaza, Lugia, Giratina-O, Arceus-Flying, and Ultra Necrozma before it sets up. Arceus-Ice is one of the only Pokemon in the tier that are capable of OHKOing any of Zygarde-C's sets with no offensive investment or stat boosts.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Recover
move 3: Judgment
move 4: Thunder / Fire Blast
item: Icicle Plate
ability: Multitype
nature: Timid
evs: 172 HP / 84 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Calm Mind boosts Arceus-Ice's Special Attack and Special Defense, bolstering its offensive and defensive capabilities.
* Recover is mandatory on this set, as it allows Arceus-Ice to regenerate the health that it loses after stomaching weaker hits and entry hazards.
* Judgment is the STAB move of choice, being able to OHKO Zygarde-C, Mega Salamence, and Rayquaza while OHKOing Ultra Necrozma after Stealth Rock, even without boosts. An unboosted Judgment is also capable of 3HKOing support Primal Groudon.
* Thunder provides excellent BoltBeam coverage alongside Judgment and enables Arceus-Ice to effectively deal with Ho-Oh, Primal Kyogre, Arceus-Water, and Toxapex.
* Fire Blast can be used over Thunder to give Arceus-Ice a move to hit Steel-types such as Necrozma-DM, Magearna, Mega Lucario, and Mega Scizor super effectively.
* Refresh can be used in the fourth slot to allow Arceus-Ice to act as a status sponge against defensive teams while performing well against teams setting up for a Dragon Dance Zygarde-C sweep via Toxic Spikes and paralysis. However, this severely hurts Arceus-Ice's coverage.
Set Details
========
* 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allow Arceus-Ice to Speed tie with other Arceus formes and Mega Salamence and outspeed Mega Lucario, Yveltal, Rayquaza, and everything slower.
* 84 Special Attack EVs increase Arceus-Ice's chance to 2HKO most offensive Primal Groudon sets with an unboosted Judgment and give it the ability to OHKO Ultra Necrozma from full HP.
* The rest of the EVs go into HP to increase Arceus-Ice's bulk, which allows it to survive Arceus-Ground's +2 Stone Edge, Zygarde-C's +1 Tectonic Rage, and Adamant Mega Salamence's +1 Double-Edge.
* Alternatively, a set with maximum Special Attack investment can be considered, as it provides Arceus-Ice the ability to OHKO defensive Ho-Oh with +1 Thunder after Stealth Rock and a small chance to OHKO offensive Primal Groudon with +1 Judgment after Stealth Rock. However, this severely undermines Arceus-Ice's bulk.
Usage Tips
========
* Arceus-Ice's subpar defensive typing means it doesn't have many opportunities to safely switch in. Switch it into weak neutral attacks such as Judgment from support Arceus formes and Earthquake from physical Giratina-O.
* Don't bother setting up with Calm Mind while Arceus-Ice's checks are still active and healthy. It's best to wait until its checks are weakened enough for a sweep to be successful. Until then, simply double switch to its teammates to gain momentum when going up against hard checks like Ho-Oh or simply attack to start whittling down checks that don't have reliable recovery such as offensive Necrozma-DM and offensive Primal Kyogre.
* While Arceus-Ice can check special variants of Arceus-Ground, physical sets prove to be tricky when it comes down to Speed ties, as they typically run maximum Speed as well. Arceus-Ground is capable of surviving one unboosted Judgment to set up Swords Dance and OHKO Arceus-Ice back with +2 Tectonic Rage if it happens to win the Speed tie on the second turn. With this in mind, it's best to scout the opposing Arceus-Ground's set before sending Arceus-Ice out.
* Try to keep entry hazards off the field as much as possible before Arceus-Ice comes in, as Stealth Rock will put it in range of a lot of powerful attacks. For instance, physical Ultra Necrozma's unboosted Light That Burns the Sky OHKOes Arceus-Ice after Stealth Rock.
* If Arceus-Ice is running Thunder, it should be used as Arceus-Water, Primal Kyogre, and Toxapex switch in, while Fire Blast variants can take chunks out of incoming Necrozma-DM, Magearna, and Mega Scizor.
Team Options
========
* Entry hazard removal is mandatory to prevent Arceus-Ice from taking unnecessary damage , especially from Stealth Rock. Defog users such as Giratina-O and Xerneas are excellent options, as they're not weak to Stealth Rock and can deal with a few of Arceus-Ice's checks. Giratina-O checks Necrozma-DM and Mega Lucario, while bulky and Choice Scarf Xerneas sets deal with Marshadow.
* Arceus-Ice appreciates checks to Ho-Oh such as Zygarde-C, Primal Groudon, and Mega Diancie. Zygarde-C is noteworthy, since it takes on many of Arceus-Ice's other major checks, including Necrozma-DM, non-Hidden Power Ice Marshadow, Mega Lucario, and offensive Primal Groudon. Primal Groudon can either offer Stealth Rock support, which heavily punishes Ho-Oh each time it comes in, or run Rock-type coverage to OHKO it for Arceus-Ice. Mega Diancie can also provide Stealth Rock and act as emergency anti-hazard support thanks to Magic Bounce. In return, Arceus-Ice checks special Arceus-Ground, which threatens all three of these potential partners.
* Checks to Steel-type Pokemon, such as Primal Groudon, Zygarde-C, Mega Lucario, Marshadow, and Primal Kyogre, are beneficial to Arceus-Ice, as this means it won't have to rely on Fire Blast to get past them. Mega Lucario and non-Hidden Power Ice Marshadow, in particular, appreciate Arceus-Ice's ability to get past Zygarde-C and special Arceus-Ground. These partners are also capable of dealing with Rock-type checks to Arceus-Ice such as Tyranitar and Arceus-Rock.
* Stallbreakers such as Mega Gengar, Gothitelle, and Mega Gyarados are excellent partners due to Arceus-Ice's poor matchup against some of stall's staples such as Blissey and Chansey.
* If Arceus-Ice is not running Thunder, checks to Water-types such as Primal Kyogre and Arceus-Water are mandatory. Ferrothorn, Primal Groudon, and Mega Venusaur fill this role.
* Since getting Arceus-Ice in safely can be a daunting task, Pokemon that use Volt Switch such as Magearna and Zekrom and U-turn such as Yveltal, Mega Scizor, and Tapu Koko are extremely helpful. Zekrom and Tapu Koko are able to check Ho-Oh, Primal Kyogre, and Arceus-Water. Meanwhile, Yveltal checks Necrozma-DM.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* A set with Icium Z and maximum Special Attack investment gives Arceus-Ice a one-time nuke option. +1 Subzero Slammer with either Ice Beam or Blizzard as the base move is capable of knocking out virtually any Primal Groudon set after Stealth Rock, and +1 Subzero Slammer followed by Ice Beam can take Ferrothorn out. However, this set is inconsistent, especially if Blizzard is used due to its poor accuracy, and Arceus-Ice will miss its Judgment and Icicle Plate after the Z-Move is used due to the noticeable drop in power.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ho-Oh**: Ho-Oh has the special bulk to withstand even boosted Thunders and either retaliate with Sacred Fire or stall Arceus-Ice out with Toxic, Recover, and Regenerator. If Arceus-Ice is running Fire Blast instead of Thunder, Ho-Oh is a hard counter. However, Ho-Oh is pressured by Stealth Rock, which undermines its ability to switch into Arceus-Ice's attacks, especially when they're boosted by Calm Mind.
**Blissey and Chansey**: Both Blissey and Chansey take very little damage from anything Arceus-Ice can throw at them and nullify its Calm Mind boosts with Confide. They can proceed to stall it out with Toxic shortly after.
**Steel-types**: Necrozma-DM, Magearna, and Mega Scizor comfortably come in on Arceus-Ice's STAB Judgment and Thunder, but they must watch out for Fire Blast on the switch. Keep in mind that support Necrozma-DM is only 3HKOed by +1 Fire Blast and can 2HKO back with Sunsteel Strike.
**Fighting-types**: Life Orb variants of Marshadow OHKO Arceus-Ice with Close Combat after a small amount of prior damage. Marshadium Z variants can survive +1 Judgment from full HP to set up with Bulk Up and OHKO with +1 Close Combat the following turn. Mega Lucario can only switch into Judgment and Thunder once and has to fear Fire Blast, but in a one-on-one situation against non-Fire Blast Arceus-Ice, Mega Lucario can survive any one hit and OHKO back with Close Combat. If Arceus-Ice is weakened enough, Mega Lucario's Bullet Punch can pick it off. Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Blaziken can survive any hits from Arceus-Ice and retaliate with Low Kick.
**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon sets that run Fire-type STAB moves heavily pressure Arceus-Ice. Primal Groudon's uninvested Overheat, maximum Special Attack Fire Blast, and maximum Attack Fire Punch OHKO unboosted Arceus-Ice from full health. However, offensive Primal Groudon sets are 2HKOed by Judgment after Stealth Rock, so it should be wary of attempting to switch in.
**Entry Hazards**: Arceus-Ice is susceptible to being whittled down by all forms of entry hazards, and keeping them up on Arceus-Ice's side of the field throughout the match is a great way to keep it at bay. Having Stealth Rock up also allows powerful neutral hits such as Ultra Necrozma's Light That Burns The Sky, Mega Salamence's +1 Double-Edge, and Zygarde-C's +1 Tectonic Rage to knock Arceus-Ice out.
**Swords Dance Arceus formes**: Swords Dance variants of Arceus, Arceus-Ghost, and even Arceus-Ground overpower Arceus-Ice with their boosted attacks. Arceus-Ghost's +2 Never-Ending Nightmare and Arceus-Ground's +2 Tectonic Rage OHKO Arceus-Ice from full HP, while Arceus's +2 Extreme Speed 2HKOes from full health.
**Water-types**: If Arceus-Ice lacks Thunder, Water-types such as Toxapex, Arceus-Water, and Primal Kyogre counter it. Toxapex removes stat boosts with Haze and can set Toxic Spikes to whittle down Arceus-Ice as it comes in, while Arceus-Water and defensive Primal Kyogre stall it out with Toxic.
**Rock-types**: Tyranitar, Mega Tyranitar, and Arceus-Rock hit Arceus-Ice hard with their STAB Rock-type attacks. Choice Band Tyranitar stomachs a +1 Judgment and OHKOes back with Stone Edge after sand damage, while Mega Tyranitar renders Arceus-Ice setup fodder. Arceus-Rock wins the Calm Mind war against Arceus-Ice.[/hide][/QUOTE]
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