[Overview]
<p>Unlike the large majority of the Pokemon of the fifth generation, Archeops has phenomenal stats that fit its role well. With Attack that approaches overkill, Speed that is uncannily high for a Rock-type, high Special Attack, and a fantastic offensive typing, Archeops is well-suited for its role as a sweeper. Its movepool, while not very expansive, provides nearly perfect coverage with the "EdgeQuake" combination. Looking at Archeops, it is evident that Gamefreak earnestly tried to make a speedy, menacing Rock-type sweeper. However, they may have overestimated its strength. Archeops' great power is very cruelly balanced out with by its ability, Defeatist. Whenever Archeops loses more than half of its health, its ability halves its attacking stats and effectively neuters it for the rest of the match. A weakness to Stealth Rock and lack of any resistances to the most common priority moves in the tier only serve to compound the issues that Defeatist creates. Nevertheless, even with its debilitating ability, Archeops can succeed in UU by sheer offensive might.</p>
[SET]
name: Acrobatics
move 1: Acrobatics
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: U-turn
item: Flight Gem
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>Acrobatics provides Archeops with its most powerful STAB on the first turn it is used. By using Flight Gem, Archeops' Acrobatics has incredible power, hitting and hits nearly as hard as a Choice Band Staraptor's Brave Bird. Even after the Flight Gem is consumed, Acrobatics is still a potent move, with 110 Base Power. Stone Edge is Archeops' secondary STAB. While the accuracy is often aggravating, a 100 Base Power STAB move coupled with the Rock-type's awesome offensive coverage is not to be underestimated. Earthquake has great coverage alongside both Flying- and Rock-type attacks and removes the Rock- and Steel-types that resist Acrobatics. However, one must keep in mind that Steel- and Rock-types are often able to survive an Earthquake and heavily injure or outright KO Archeops in return, so Earthquake is best used pre­-emptively to strike predicted switch-ins. U-turn fills the final moveslot and allows Archeops to play the role of a scout while also getting some quick damage in.</p>
<p>The EVs and nature are standard fare, maximizing Archeops's Speed and power. Putting the remaining 4 EVs into Defense instead of HP allows Archeops to switch into Stealth Rock twice without activating Defeatist.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>Claw Sharpen is an option that can replace U-turn, but considering Archeops's frailty and the dangers associated with Defeatist, the benefits of Claw Sharpen's boosts are rarely worth missing a valuable chance to attack. This is not to say that the boosts can't be impressive—a +1 Flight Gem Acrobatics can OHKO a max HP Donphan with Stealth Rock support. Wobbuffet is also often OHKOed under the same conditions.</p>
<p>Because every precious bit of HP needs to be preserved, Archeops benefits greatly from the presence of a teammate with Rapid Spin. Hitmontop and Donphan are both good choices because they provide bulk and invaluable Rock-type resistances; Donphan is immune to Electric-type attacks as well. Magic Bounce Espeon functions similarly in its ability to keep Stealth Rock off of the field. In the event that Archeops takes a bit too much damage, Wish and Leech Seed can give it a second chance. Otherwise, Reflect, Light Screen, and sandstorm support allow it to take hits with greater ease.</p>
<p>Having teammates weak to Ground-type moves can also be effective, luring providing invaluable opportunities for Archeops to switch into battle. Raikou, Jolteon, and Rhyperior can all work towards this goal and allow Archeops to switch in unscathed. Rhyperior is special in that it draws in the same Pokemon as has redundant coverage with Archeops, allowing them to jointly weaken their counters and muscle through the enemy team. Archeops also has a place on Brave Bird teams, which focus on abusing high-powered Flying-type attacks—it has superior coverage and power to any Flying-type Pokemon in UU except Staraptor.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Stone Edge
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: U-Turn
move 4: Aerial Ace / Crunch
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>Choice Band allows Archeops to simply mow down every opponent that dares to stand in its way. With the loss of Acrobatics, Stone Edge becomes Archeops' main move, but still hits incredibly hard against any Pokemon that doesn't resist it. Earthquake still fulfills its role of providing invaluable coverage, especially against Steel-types. U-turn plays a greater role on this set, allowing and allows Archeops to hit hard to make a strong hit before switching out, an invaluable tool for avoiding the danger of being locked into the wrong move. With the boost from Choice Band, it is also able to OHKO even the bulkiest of Celebi sets with Stealth Rock support. The last slot is left to filler. Despite its low Base Power, Aerial Ace dismantles bulky Fighting-types like Hitmontop, which are traditionally problematic enemies to for Rock-type sweepers. On the other hand, Crunch deals severe damage to Mew, Dusclops, and Golurk. Psychic-type Pokemon are everywhere in UU, and Crunch can beat them without relying on Stone Edge's accuracy.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>A few moves can also be used in the last slot. Quick Attack is Archeops's only priority move, but it is weak and provides little coverage. Even with the Choice Band, being locked into a 40 Base Power Normal-type move is a severe liability. Acrobatics hits with about 92% of the power of Aerial Ace, but becomes more useful in the event that Archeops is hit by Knock Off.</p>
<p>Much like the previous set, anything that prevents, diminishes, or heals damage done to Archeops is a terrific boon. Magic Bounce Espeon and Pokemon with Rapid Spin become even more important for Archeops, as it needs to switch more frequently when locked into a single move. Again, Leech Seed, Wish, sandstorm, Reflect, and Light Screen are very useful to run as well.</p>
<p>Just as with the Acrobatics set, Rhyperior and other Pokemon weak to Ground-type moves are good partners because can create opportunities make opportune chances for Archeops to switch in.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Hidden Power Ice is one of the most viable of Archeops's options, allowing and allows it to KO Gligar with little effort. Knock Off can be used to make Eviolite users like Chansey, Dusclops, and the aforementioned Gligar far less useful for the rest of the match and also allows Archeops to do serious damage to them with its STAB moves. Taunt can be used to disable Chansey and cripple Baton Pass teams, but forces the opponent to attack Archeops, which is not something that is desired. A special set with Hidden Power Rock, Focus Blast, Earth Power, and a filler move can be used but lacks power. Expert Belt serves as a sort of intermediate between Choice Band and Flight Gem - Archeops retains the ability to switch between moves while gaining a valuable 20% power boost, though it lacks access to an effective Flying-type STAB attack and will have to rely more heavily on Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. Choice Scarf can be used, but Archeops ends up starved for the offensive might of other sets. However, its high base Speed allows it to outspeed most of the tier with a Choice Scarf, so it is not something to wholly ignore. One can always consider using Sitrus Berry or other one-use Items instead of Flight Gem on the Acrobatics set. Generally speaking, the speed and power provided by of Flight Gem is the best match for Archeops's style of play; an item like Sitrus Berry will leave Acrobatics with a weak Base Power until it is consumed. In regards With regard to nature, Archeops always has the option choice to run an Adamant nature to further boost its Attack. However, with Adamant, it falls behind Pokemon with 100 base Speed with and a positive nature, which is a severe blow to Archeops's already limited survivability.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>While few Pokemon can switch into Archeops, it is not a difficult Pokemon to force out. While Archeops possesses the power needed to 2HKO the majority of foes it will face in UU, most of those foes need only one turn to beat it into Defeatist range or KO it outright. With Defeatist activated, Archeops becomes rather useless, which makes it critical for Archeops to pick its battles wisely—it will often be forced to predict properly to beat foes by catching them with the correct move on the switch-in. Registeel is not 2HKOed by Earthquake without prior damage, meaning it can always force Archeops out at least once; Registeel's Iron Head easily knocks Archeops into Defeatist range. Archeops must also be weary of faster foes like Jolteon, Weavile, and UU's many Choice Scarf users. While Hitmontop must be switched in carefully to avoid Flying-type moves, it knocks Archeops into Defeatist range with Technician Mach Punch. Mamoswine and Azumarill destroy Archeops with their STAB priority moves, but both take great damage switching into Archeops's STAB attacks. Donphan is just strong enough to survive two hits from live Acrobatics twice (even if the Flight Gem is intact) and is similarly unafraid of the Choice Band set. However, because Ice Shard does not put Archeops into Defeatist range, Donphan is not a full counter and becomes an increasingly shaky check as damage creeps up on it.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Archeops does not get a Dream World Ability, which is truly unfortunate.</p>
