[SET]
Bulky Setup Sweeper (Archaludon) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Stamina
Level: 50
Tera Type: Grass / Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 36 SpA / 196 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Electro Shot
- Body Press
- Flash Cannon / Snarl
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
[SET COMMENTS]
- When used as a bulky setup sweeper, Archaludon increases its Special Attack with Electro Shot, allowing it to easily snowball. Archaludon also aims to survive for a long time on the field while dealing significant damage by relying on Stamina to boost its Defense stat, increasing its longevity and the damage dealt by Body Press.
- Electro Shot and Body Press are essential for Archaludon, with Electro Shot threatening Water-types such as Primarina and Basculegion-M. Body Press threatens Dark-types like Incineroar and Kingambit. Flash Cannon and Draco Meteor are used for consistent STAB attacks, with Dragon Pulse sometimes being used over Draco Meteor for more consistency at the cost of lower damage. Snarl, while less common, is used to hinder special threats such as Gholdengo and opposing Archaludon.
- Tera Grass lets Archaludon resist Headlong Rush from Ursaluna as well as providing an immunity to Spore and Rage Powder. Tera Fairy inverts Archaludon's weakness to Close Combat from Sneasler, makes Archaludon immune to Draco Meteor from opposing Archaludon, and provides a solid overall defensive typing.
- Archaludon's physical bulk investment lets it survive Close Combat from Sneasler, Headlong Rush and Facade from Ursaluna after Archaludon has Terastallized into a Grass-type, and Outrage from Choice Band Dragonite and Dragapult, with a high chance to survive Tera Dragon Choice Band Outrage from Dragapult. With the given special bulk investment, Archaludon can comfortably survive +2 Shadow Ball from Gholdengo, Draco Meteor from opposing Archaludon, and Earth Power from Ursaluna-B as well as allowing Archaludon to survive Ursaluna-B's Life Orb-boosted Tera Normal Blood Moon after Terastallizing.
- This Archaludon set requires being on the field for the majority of the game in order to become fully set up, so it is not immediately threatening. Being on the field for a long time makes Archaludon susceptible to being double targeted and KOed easily, as the set lacks Protect or a way to heal itself. It can also be set back while attempting to set up by Haze as well as Parting Shot and Snarl.
[SET]
Glass Cannon (Archaludon) @ Power Herb
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Electro Shot
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- Protect / Aura Sphere
[SET COMMENTS]
- The objective of glass cannon Archaludon is to attack once with Electro Shot to increase its Special Attack and proceed to deal as much damage as possible before it is KOed. With the help of Sturdy, Archaludon is guaranteed to survive one powerful attack, allowing it to deal significant damage before being KOed.
- Electro Shot is mandatory for boosting Archaludon's Special Attack stat as well as dealing devastating damage to Water-types such as Primarina and Basculegion. Draco Meteor can be used over Dragon Pulse for more damage at the cost of weakening Archaludon's damage and lower accuracy. STAB Flash Cannon allows Archaludon to significantly damage Fairy-types like Clefable. Aura Sphere is sometimes used instead of Protect to significantly damage Dark-types such as Incineroar and Kingambit.
- Power Herb allows Archaludon to use Electro Shot within a single turn without requiring rain.
- Tera Stellar takes advantage of Archaludon's array of coverage attacks, increasing Archaludon's damage. This allows Archaludon to pick up vital OHKOs against Pokemon such as Ursaluna with +1 Draco Meteor.
- This Archaludon set is significantly better at dealing a lot of damage early-game with the drawback of being unable to remain in play for a long time, since it is less bulky than Assault Vest sets and can't increase its defenses.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Teambuilding
============
- Assault Vest Archaludon is commonly used on rain-reliant teams, allowing it to use Electro Shot every turn. Rain teams also utilize powerful Water-types such as Basculegion-M, which threatens Ground-types like Ursaluna that threaten Archaludon. Assault Vest Archaludon also appreciates redirection and damage reduction, allowing it to set up freely while gaining boosts from Stamina. Power Herb Archaludon needs to deal as much damage as possible before fainting, so it is best paired with fast or priority-boosted forms of speed control like Whimsicott.
- When it's used with rain, common partners alongside Archaludon are Pelipper, Basculegion-M and Amoonguss. Pelipper and Basculegion-M cover Archaludon's Ground- and Fighting-type weaknesses, while Amoonguss redirects damage with Rage Powder and can heal Archaludon with Pollen Puff. When using the Power Herb set, Archaludon is commonly paired with priority Tailwind users such as Whimsicott and Talonflame, allowing it to attack before its foes can, and it is used on balance teams paired with partners such as Rillaboom and Primarina that threaten Ground- and Fighting-types. Rillaboom can also disrupt opponents with Fake Out as well as healing Archaludon with Grassy Terrain. Incineroar also pairs well with both Archaludon sets, as it can disrupt opponents with Fake Out while providing damage reduction with Intimidate.
- Before Terastallizing, Archaludon takes severe damage from Ground- and Fighting-types such as Ursaluna and Flamigo. Water- and Grass-type partners such as Pelipper, Primarina, and Rillaboom mitigate the Ground-type weakness, with Pelipper and Primarina also threatening Fighting-types. Archaludon struggles to damage Ghost-types, in particular Gholdengo with its additional Steel typing, so Dark- and Ghost-type partners such as Incineroar and Basculegion-M can threaten them. Haze is another great roadblock to Archaludon. With Primarina being the most common Haze user, Rillaboom can threaten Primarina before it is able to use it.
Strategy Comments
============
- Archaludon is a sweeper capable of dealing significant damage to most foes after a +1 Special Attack boost from Electro Shot or with Body Press after gaining multiple Defense boosts from Stamina. Archaludon should often be sent out first in order to start setting up early when using the Assault Vest set, and it functions best when it's used on rain teams.
- The Power Herb set can be used either early- or late-game. It mostly requires speed control through Tailwind in order to deal significant damage before fainting, making this set ideal on hyper offense teams. It can also be slotted onto balance teams that require a powerful special attacker or Steel- and Dragon-type coverage.
- Ursaluna is a huge check to Archaludon, as it's capable of OHKOing it before it Terastallizes, while Archaludon can't OHKO it back. Archaludon is therefore reliant on partners that can KO or weaken Ursaluna such as Basculegion-M and Incineroar. Gholdengo walls Archaludon, so it relies on partners like Incineroar to survive attacks from Gholdengo and threaten it back. Removing rain prevents Assault Vest Archaludon from freely gaining boosts and attacking with Electro Shot, greatly hindering its setup. This forces Pelipper to be brought back onto the field to reset the weather. Haze also counters Assault Vest Archaludon, severly weakening its damage output and bulk, so partners such as Rillaboom that can KO Haze users like Primarina before they can attack help to mitigate this.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rauvgc.589964/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/soulboyvgc.558405/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ipetbigfoot.645750/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
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