capefeather
toot
FLYING!!! Eat your heart out, Lugia.
Status: Done!
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/arceus-flying
[Overview]
<p>Behold the only pure Flying-type Pokémon in the game. Holding the hallowed Sky Plate, Flying Arceus uses its unique typing to switch into common attacks such as Groudon's mighty Earthquake, Scizor's nasty Bug Bite, Shaymin-S's frightening Seed Flare, and Fighting-type moves aimed at precious Steel-types with the greatest of ease. Flying Arceus is also immune to Toxic Spikes, which only its Steel- and Poison-type formes can boast, as well as Spikes, which no other Plate grants. Flying Arceus is also feared for its venerable retaliatory capabilities. It has one of only three STAB types to which no Pokémon whatsoever, including Shedinja, is immune; thus, no Pokémon can truly escape the Judgment of a mono-attacking Calm Mind set. On the other hand, if Arceus chooses to employ an auxiliary attacking move, the Flying / Fighting combination is nearly unresisted except for by Rotom, who is essentially nonexistent in Ubers. However, all this comes at a terrible price; Flying Arceus is weak to Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves, all among the most common attacking types in Ubers. Perhaps feeling a twinge of pity for the recipients of its wrath, Arceus did not bless itself with the move Roost, which would have given it a powerful advantage in battle. Nevertheless, Flying Arceus is a force to be reckoned with, and should not be underestimated.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Judgment
move 3: Substitute / Iron Defense / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Recover
item: Sky Plate
nature: Timid
evs: 100 HP / 100 Def / 100 SpA / 100 SpD / 100 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Witness Flying Arceus's glorious moveset. The main idea is to use Arceus's fantastic bulk to survive various moves while setting up. To this end, Calm Mind is a given to power up Judgment to respectable sweeping levels, while Recover increases Arceus's longevity further to render 3HKOs useless and set up even more. However, one must not get carried away with this because of the potential for a critical hit, which may put all of the setting up that Arceus has done to waste. A Timid nature is highly recommended to outrun all threats with base 100 Speed or lower, including particularly major threats such as Kyogre, who can smash Arceus otherwise with super effective moves.</p>
<p>As a Flying-type Calm Mind user, the Wind God's main competition for domination of the skies is offensive Calm Mind Lugia. However, Flying Arceus sports an arguably superior stat spread for the job, having about 16.6% more physical bulk and 7.9% more Special Attack than offensive Calm Mind Lugia does, while missing out only on outpacing Garchomp in terms of Speed. Notably, +1 Hidden Power Fighting 2HKOes Mixed Dialga, and Arceus has an extra defensive option in Iron Defense. Finally, Flying Arceus is not weak against Dark- or Ghost-type moves, which Lugia cannot boast.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This Arceus has several options to round out the set. Substitute is a particularly strong option to shield Arceus from status moves, and to allow it to set up on Blissey, who cannot break Arceus's 101 HP Substitutes with Seismic Toss. However, if Arceus deems Blissey unworthy of attention, it can run Iron Defense to bolster its physical bulk, making it even more difficult to KO with direct damage. Iron Defense can also be used as a last-resort strategy against Wobbuffet's Encore-to-sweeper tactic, and shuts down its Tickle-to-Pursuit tactic. Refresh is also worth some consideration to ward off status without sacrificing Arceus's HP to Substitute.</p>
<p>Arceus can also take a more direct offensive route by running a secondary attacking move. Hidden Power Fighting is the main option to land reliable 2HKOs against its targets. Alternatively, Focus Blast lands 2HKOs on bulkier Dialga and Skarmory at +1 that Hidden Power Fighting does not achieve, but it hits twice only 49% of the time and has only 8 PP, so it is quite risky. As for other options, Earth Power provides a compromise between power and reliability, but Skarmory walls it, while Thunder hits Kyogre, Lugia, and Ho-Oh harder, but Dialga and Tyranitar wall it.</p>
<p>If using Hidden Power Fighting, reducing the Attack IV to 1 will legalize the IV-Nature combination.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Flying Arceus's other options unfortunately suffer from large disadvantages. In terms of a defensive support set, Flying Arceus's weaknesses leave much to be desired, and this role will probably be filled better by a more defensively advantaged Arceus forme. A physical set with Fly or Aerial Ace is a poor choice because Fly is risky due to taking up two turns, and Aerial Ace is rather weak without multiple Swords Dance boosts. Those looking for a good Swords Dance Arceus should find a different item to attach to it.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Flying Arceus does not like Calm Mind wars with most other Ubers, particularly Giratina, Kyogre, Latias, Latios, Lugia, and other Arceus, especially since Thunder, which is super effective and can paralyze, is viable on all of them. If sufficiently weakened, Extreme Killer Arceus "outruns" with its priority ExtremeSpeed and can set up very easily. Other counters depend on Flying Arceus's auxiliary move; without Substitute, Blissey can wall Arceus and inflict it with status, while without Iron Defense, Ho-Oh and Garchomp can outdamage +1 Judgment with their STABs. Without a Fighting- or Ground-type move, Magnezone can wall Arceus and damage it severely with STAB Thunder.</p>
<p>When facing Arceus, it is very important to know the sprite difference between Flying Arceus and the similar-looking Steel Arceus. You absolutely do not want to find yourself using a Ground- or Fighting-type move on Flying Arceus just because you thought it was Steel Arceus.</p>
Status: Done!
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/arceus-flying
[Overview]
<p>Behold the only pure Flying-type Pokémon in the game. Holding the hallowed Sky Plate, Flying Arceus uses its unique typing to switch into common attacks such as Groudon's mighty Earthquake, Scizor's nasty Bug Bite, Shaymin-S's frightening Seed Flare, and Fighting-type moves aimed at precious Steel-types with the greatest of ease. Flying Arceus is also immune to Toxic Spikes, which only its Steel- and Poison-type formes can boast, as well as Spikes, which no other Plate grants. Flying Arceus is also feared for its venerable retaliatory capabilities. It has one of only three STAB types to which no Pokémon whatsoever, including Shedinja, is immune; thus, no Pokémon can truly escape the Judgment of a mono-attacking Calm Mind set. On the other hand, if Arceus chooses to employ an auxiliary attacking move, the Flying / Fighting combination is nearly unresisted except for by Rotom, who is essentially nonexistent in Ubers. However, all this comes at a terrible price; Flying Arceus is weak to Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves, all among the most common attacking types in Ubers. Perhaps feeling a twinge of pity for the recipients of its wrath, Arceus did not bless itself with the move Roost, which would have given it a powerful advantage in battle. Nevertheless, Flying Arceus is a force to be reckoned with, and should not be underestimated.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Judgment
move 3: Substitute / Iron Defense / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Recover
item: Sky Plate
nature: Timid
evs: 100 HP / 100 Def / 100 SpA / 100 SpD / 100 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Witness Flying Arceus's glorious moveset. The main idea is to use Arceus's fantastic bulk to survive various moves while setting up. To this end, Calm Mind is a given to power up Judgment to respectable sweeping levels, while Recover increases Arceus's longevity further to render 3HKOs useless and set up even more. However, one must not get carried away with this because of the potential for a critical hit, which may put all of the setting up that Arceus has done to waste. A Timid nature is highly recommended to outrun all threats with base 100 Speed or lower, including particularly major threats such as Kyogre, who can smash Arceus otherwise with super effective moves.</p>
<p>As a Flying-type Calm Mind user, the Wind God's main competition for domination of the skies is offensive Calm Mind Lugia. However, Flying Arceus sports an arguably superior stat spread for the job, having about 16.6% more physical bulk and 7.9% more Special Attack than offensive Calm Mind Lugia does, while missing out only on outpacing Garchomp in terms of Speed. Notably, +1 Hidden Power Fighting 2HKOes Mixed Dialga, and Arceus has an extra defensive option in Iron Defense. Finally, Flying Arceus is not weak against Dark- or Ghost-type moves, which Lugia cannot boast.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This Arceus has several options to round out the set. Substitute is a particularly strong option to shield Arceus from status moves, and to allow it to set up on Blissey, who cannot break Arceus's 101 HP Substitutes with Seismic Toss. However, if Arceus deems Blissey unworthy of attention, it can run Iron Defense to bolster its physical bulk, making it even more difficult to KO with direct damage. Iron Defense can also be used as a last-resort strategy against Wobbuffet's Encore-to-sweeper tactic, and shuts down its Tickle-to-Pursuit tactic. Refresh is also worth some consideration to ward off status without sacrificing Arceus's HP to Substitute.</p>
<p>Arceus can also take a more direct offensive route by running a secondary attacking move. Hidden Power Fighting is the main option to land reliable 2HKOs against its targets. Alternatively, Focus Blast lands 2HKOs on bulkier Dialga and Skarmory at +1 that Hidden Power Fighting does not achieve, but it hits twice only 49% of the time and has only 8 PP, so it is quite risky. As for other options, Earth Power provides a compromise between power and reliability, but Skarmory walls it, while Thunder hits Kyogre, Lugia, and Ho-Oh harder, but Dialga and Tyranitar wall it.</p>
<p>If using Hidden Power Fighting, reducing the Attack IV to 1 will legalize the IV-Nature combination.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Flying Arceus's other options unfortunately suffer from large disadvantages. In terms of a defensive support set, Flying Arceus's weaknesses leave much to be desired, and this role will probably be filled better by a more defensively advantaged Arceus forme. A physical set with Fly or Aerial Ace is a poor choice because Fly is risky due to taking up two turns, and Aerial Ace is rather weak without multiple Swords Dance boosts. Those looking for a good Swords Dance Arceus should find a different item to attach to it.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Flying Arceus does not like Calm Mind wars with most other Ubers, particularly Giratina, Kyogre, Latias, Latios, Lugia, and other Arceus, especially since Thunder, which is super effective and can paralyze, is viable on all of them. If sufficiently weakened, Extreme Killer Arceus "outruns" with its priority ExtremeSpeed and can set up very easily. Other counters depend on Flying Arceus's auxiliary move; without Substitute, Blissey can wall Arceus and inflict it with status, while without Iron Defense, Ho-Oh and Garchomp can outdamage +1 Judgment with their STABs. Without a Fighting- or Ground-type move, Magnezone can wall Arceus and damage it severely with STAB Thunder.</p>
<p>When facing Arceus, it is very important to know the sprite difference between Flying Arceus and the similar-looking Steel Arceus. You absolutely do not want to find yourself using a Ground- or Fighting-type move on Flying Arceus just because you thought it was Steel Arceus.</p>