[OVERVIEW]
The incredible power of Armor Cannon makes Armarouge a terrifying foe in the RU tier, often threatening a KO whenever it enters the field. With its excellent STAB combination that hits most of the metagame, Weak Armor that constantly deters weak physical moves like U-turn and Rapid Spin, and the physical bulk to make use of it, Armarouge can serve as both a wallbreaker and sweeper simultaneously. Armarouge is unique among the Psychic-types in the tier due to its ability to threaten Steel-types like Jirachi, Magnezone, and Registeel with Armor Cannon. Armarouge's drawbacks, however, are evident; its Speed is lower than much of the tier, allowing many Pokemon like Basculegion-F, Gengar, and Salamence to outspeed it prior to Weak Armor's activation, and its ability to take special attacks is poor. Its weakness to Stealth Rock and the combined Defense drops from both Weak Armor and Armor Cannon can cause damage to add up quickly, resulting in Armarouge being unable to survive subsequent attacks from revenge killers and bulky Pokemon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Meteor Beam, alongside a Power Herb, can compress setup with a coverage option to hit Fire-types like Volcanion and opposing Armarouge into a single moveslot, with the drawback that this combination effectively limits Armarouge to three moveslots for the remainder of the game. Armarouge can effectively use Choice Specs for immediate power that can OHKO Cyclizar with Psyshock after Stealth Rock and 2HKO specially defensive Empoleon with Armor Cannon; it additionally allows Armarouge to use Trick to cripple the few walls that are able to switch into its attacks. Flash Fire can be used with Choice Specs, enabling absolutely nuclear Armor Cannons if positioned correctly, but using Flash Fire means that Gardevoir can Trace it to become immune, and Speed will remain an issue without Weak Armor. Iron Defense can offset the penalty of Weak Armor and give Armarouge the additional bulk to set up Calm Minds or activate Weakness Policy from powerful attacks like Crawdaunt's and Krookodile's Knock Off, all while further boosting Stored Power. Focus Blast can be used to hit opposing special walls like Hisuian Goodra and Umbreon, but dropping Energy Ball leaves Armarouge weaker against Water-types like Slowbro. Destiny Bond allows Armarouge to get a surprise KO on a Pokemon that is bulky enough to survive its hits.
Checks and Counters
====
**Special Walls**: Chansey, Umbreon, Empoleon, and Hisuian Goodra are all able to comfortably survive Armarouge's attacks and either heal off the damage or deal huge damage in return. With boosts from Calm Mind or Weakness Policy, Armarouge can use Psyshock to answer Chansey, particularly if its Eviolite has been removed, but the last three Pokemon either resist or are immune to Psyshock, meaning Armarouge has to brute force its way through their high Special Defense.
**Special Attackers**: Special attackers like Azelf, Noivern, and Hisuian Zoroark not only target Armarouge's weaker Special Defense but fail to activate Weak Armor, meaning that Armarouge does not gain the crucial Speed advantage on the next turn. Even attacks from weaker Pokemon like Draco Meteor Cyclizar pose a threat.
**Priority**: Armarouge's use of Weak Armor leaves it vulnerable to the many forms of physical priority moves in the tier, such as Slither Wing's First Impression, Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak, and Aqua Jet from Barraskewda and Crawdaunt. Even resisted moves like Conkeldurr's Mach Punch can deal significant damage after Defense drops from Weak Armor and Armor Cannon, meaning that while these Pokemon are still in the game, Armarouge can struggle to sweep by itself. Endure sets are safe from First Impression, but unless Armarouge is used in Psychic Terrain, other priority users like Bisharp and Entei are extremely effective at revenge killing it.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/machjacob.555741/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sir-tetris.655207/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/fluff.614438/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
The incredible power of Armor Cannon makes Armarouge a terrifying foe in the RU tier, often threatening a KO whenever it enters the field. With its excellent STAB combination that hits most of the metagame, Weak Armor that constantly deters weak physical moves like U-turn and Rapid Spin, and the physical bulk to make use of it, Armarouge can serve as both a wallbreaker and sweeper simultaneously. Armarouge is unique among the Psychic-types in the tier due to its ability to threaten Steel-types like Jirachi, Magnezone, and Registeel with Armor Cannon. Armarouge's drawbacks, however, are evident; its Speed is lower than much of the tier, allowing many Pokemon like Basculegion-F, Gengar, and Salamence to outspeed it prior to Weak Armor's activation, and its ability to take special attacks is poor. Its weakness to Stealth Rock and the combined Defense drops from both Weak Armor and Armor Cannon can cause damage to add up quickly, resulting in Armarouge being unable to survive subsequent attacks from revenge killers and bulky Pokemon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Meteor Beam, alongside a Power Herb, can compress setup with a coverage option to hit Fire-types like Volcanion and opposing Armarouge into a single moveslot, with the drawback that this combination effectively limits Armarouge to three moveslots for the remainder of the game. Armarouge can effectively use Choice Specs for immediate power that can OHKO Cyclizar with Psyshock after Stealth Rock and 2HKO specially defensive Empoleon with Armor Cannon; it additionally allows Armarouge to use Trick to cripple the few walls that are able to switch into its attacks. Flash Fire can be used with Choice Specs, enabling absolutely nuclear Armor Cannons if positioned correctly, but using Flash Fire means that Gardevoir can Trace it to become immune, and Speed will remain an issue without Weak Armor. Iron Defense can offset the penalty of Weak Armor and give Armarouge the additional bulk to set up Calm Minds or activate Weakness Policy from powerful attacks like Crawdaunt's and Krookodile's Knock Off, all while further boosting Stored Power. Focus Blast can be used to hit opposing special walls like Hisuian Goodra and Umbreon, but dropping Energy Ball leaves Armarouge weaker against Water-types like Slowbro. Destiny Bond allows Armarouge to get a surprise KO on a Pokemon that is bulky enough to survive its hits.
Checks and Counters
====
**Special Walls**: Chansey, Umbreon, Empoleon, and Hisuian Goodra are all able to comfortably survive Armarouge's attacks and either heal off the damage or deal huge damage in return. With boosts from Calm Mind or Weakness Policy, Armarouge can use Psyshock to answer Chansey, particularly if its Eviolite has been removed, but the last three Pokemon either resist or are immune to Psyshock, meaning Armarouge has to brute force its way through their high Special Defense.
**Special Attackers**: Special attackers like Azelf, Noivern, and Hisuian Zoroark not only target Armarouge's weaker Special Defense but fail to activate Weak Armor, meaning that Armarouge does not gain the crucial Speed advantage on the next turn. Even attacks from weaker Pokemon like Draco Meteor Cyclizar pose a threat.
**Priority**: Armarouge's use of Weak Armor leaves it vulnerable to the many forms of physical priority moves in the tier, such as Slither Wing's First Impression, Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak, and Aqua Jet from Barraskewda and Crawdaunt. Even resisted moves like Conkeldurr's Mach Punch can deal significant damage after Defense drops from Weak Armor and Armor Cannon, meaning that while these Pokemon are still in the game, Armarouge can struggle to sweep by itself. Endure sets are safe from First Impression, but unless Armarouge is used in Psychic Terrain, other priority users like Bisharp and Entei are extremely effective at revenge killing it.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/machjacob.555741/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sir-tetris.655207/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/fluff.614438/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
Last edited:
